Judas Contract
by DCUnitedFanfics
Summary: A few months after the Titans defeated Trigon, things have begun to calm down. Raven and Damian are finally bonding more closely now. But when an old foe of Damian comes back from the dead, their friendship will be tested and things may not end well for any of them.
1. Chapter 1

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Damian?" Raven asks as she walks half-dragged through the garage where Starfire keeps her green car parked. Damian has the keys to it, which he took from the kitchen counter while Kori wasn't looking. They jingle in his keys as he opens the door to the driver seat with it, much to Raven's displeasure. Still, she keeps a lookout just in case someone enters the garage. She really hopes Kori doesn't catch Damian trying to sneak into her car. "We can get in _trouble_."

"I've done this when I hijacked Batman's car," Damian smirks as he sits in the driver's seat and leans over to open up the door to the passenger seat. _Father wasn't happy about it though_.

"Kori is not going to happy when she finds out you're stealing her car," Raven complains once she sits in, closes the door shut and puts on the seatbelt. Her hand immediately grasps the handle of the door tightly. She doesn't really know if Damian knows how to drive. She prays not to end up dead on the road because of him.

"Relax. I'm not stealing, I'm borrowing it."

He smirks as he says this. He shoves the key into the ignition and starts the car. Kori's car is very old so it makes sputtering sounds before it continues to roar loudly. Damian and Raven look at each other in concern. Raven gulps. They're both afraid of getting caught sneaking out at night in Kori's car. _Kori's_ car. The car of Starfire.

Damian already got himself into trouble for trying to into Blue Beetle's scarab, which did not end well. The last thing he needs is red-headed Princess glaring and constantly lecturing him again. He has already had enough of that back in Gotham with his father, with Dick and with Alfred. He misses them though, especially Alfred.

"Besides, we'll be back here before ten," he promises, "There's nothing to worry about."

"And I'm worried about that as well," Raven crosses her arms.

The garage door opens up and Damian drives the car in reverse till they're out of the garage and drive down the platform to the path that leads out of the Tower to the city.

"Are you sure this is a good idea, Damian?" she still asks.

"Do you trust me?"

"...You better not crash this car or I'll kill you myself," Raven chuckles nervously. He's going to drive anyways and she knows this all too well. _Why waste my time stopping him from driving?_

I'll take that as a yes. Damian smirks once more at the confirmation. And then drives away from Titans Tower, unaware of a presence lurking about the grounds of the Tower behind the trees.

 **-If you like this chapter, vote and leave a comment down below. More chapters will come very soon -**


	2. Chapter 2: Carnival

Raven is surprised Damian even wanted to come back here to the fair, even after what happened with Trigon. It seems he has enjoyed the _mandatory fun_ , as Kori would say. It even surprised her when Damian wanted it to be just the two of them this time. He finds Garfield to be irritating at times. Jaime is sort of cool to hang out but he likes being around Raven more than the others. He finds it to be more calming with her than anyone else. She remembers the way he held her hand when they both ran through hell. And through every crap they've been through, Damian was always getting in the way to keep her safe. Still, Raven doesn't want to bring the topic up. It's best to stay in the present than in the past.

Both Raven and Damian are in the Ferris wheel. The people below almost look like ants. Raven suddenly begins to feel dizzy as she looks down and her hand locks around Damian's arm tightly.

"You're not scared of heights, are you?" he asks, frowning at her. Raven doesn't answer at her. She continues looking down at the ground while her hands continues to clutch around his upper arm, her nails nearly digging into his skin. "Come on, you can't be that scared. I've see you fly...a lot."

"I don't fly high," she says.

The Ferris wheel suddenly jerks to a stop and they are now stuck on top. The grip on Damian's arm grows too tight for him to bare.

"Okay, ow, ow, Ow, **OW**!"

* * *

"I'm sorry about the arm," Raven apologizes once the Ferris wheel is fixed again and they finally get down.

Damian rubs the arm that's probably bruised and bleeding since he felt her nails dig into his skin. It's like being clawed by a cat. _I wish I had a cat_. However, with Raven around clawing, he wonders if he even needs a cat.

"It's okay, I guess," he hisses and then he chuckles, "I didn't know you're afraid of heights, considering that I've already seen you in flight before. Also we've been on the Ferris wheel once."

"I never look down," she smiles at him.

Damian asks her if she wants popcorn or cotton candy, that thing made out of _pure sugar_. Raven responds saying that cotton candy would be just fine. Then she suggests heading to the House of Mirrors for some fun. The same mirrors where it made Damian's butt look big and the same one that made Raven's head look big.

"I've always wanted to see what the inside of it looks like," Raven smirks as she begins to walk backwards towards the House of Mirrors, giving Damian a sneaky look.

Damian smiles back but hesitates. He looks down at his watch, it's 9:30. They have to be back at the Tower by 10 before Kori finds out her car is missing. Of course, he's also using it as an excuse to not follow Raven. I likes her, a lot, but doesn't feel comfortable going in the House Mirrors alone with her.

"Well, we have to get back by 10, remember? You said it yourself that Kori is going to catch us both," he reminds us.

"You said that she's not going to find out," Raven points out, "Besides, I don't see what's wrong staying up a little while longer."

"Well, at least let me finish the cotton candy."

"What cotton candy?" she smirks at him.

Damian looks down at his other hand where he has been holding the cotton candy. It's gone. When he looks back at Raven, she's waving the cotton candy in her hands mockingly. This leaves him dumbfounded. _How did she -?_

"Give it back," he insists nicely. He doesn't have much patience for games like that.

"And what would you give me for it?" she asks, hiding the cotton candy behind her back as Damian tries to snatch it back from her.

"I won't hit you, that's what I can give you."

"You can't hit me, Damian. You can't even if you try." Raven is right. Damian may be all about combat and physical skills but Raven is more of mystic and magic. She can turn him into dust at any time if he tries to attack her.

"I'm willing to try though."

"I'm waiting."

As soon as Damian starts bolting towards her, Raven makes a run for it in the House Mirrors, squealing and laughing.

The House of Mirrors is like a labyrinth, tall twisted mirrors here and there, making the two teens running around, turning right and left right, twisting and turning in different directions. Damian is having a hard time trying to catch up to Raven. Every time he thinks he already has it, it turns out to be her reflection. And then she keeps tagging and disappearing through the gaps.

"Raven," he keeps calling out her name. He knows she's nearby. "Where are you?"

Out of the blue, Raven jumps out and tackles him to the ground. They wrestle on the ground for a little while before Damian finally has her pinned down beneath him. She smiles at him and he smiles back. But then frowns.

"Raven, where's the cotton candy?"

"Um, I might have eaten it from all the running," she giggles. Of course, this irritates Damian and gets off her.

"Oh come on!" he whines. Raven only laughs at his disappointment.

* * *

It's 10:30. Damian drives down the road while Raven is resting her head against his shoulder, already half-asleep. She's tired. They're both are. They had fun at the carnival. Damian is happy. He hasn't had that much fun in a long time. Being with the Titans really showed that he has been missing out a lot of his childhood. And being around Raven is like he recovered most of it. _Most_ of it. He is still himself: arrogant, stubborn and a bit temperamental. Just like his father. But he knows that he feels a lot more happier. A lot more relaxed. And Raven is making it better for him. The only thing is that every time he holds her hand, he feels weird. He always gets that weird feeling in his stomach every time he talks to her or every time they accidentally hold hands. It's like -.

A loud beep is heard in the background and Damian can see blue lights flashing through the mirrors of the car. _Please don't tell that's a police car_ , he prays. Unfortunately, it _is_ a police car. _Shit._

" _Okay, buddy, pull over_ ," he hears the police yell through a megaphone or something. The sound awakens Raven with a startled jump.

"What's going on?" she asks in confusion.

"I think we're going to get our butts towed," Damian says bitterly.

Once the police gets closer to the green car, he's surprised to see two kids in the car by themselves and the thirteen-year-old boy driving the car. Damian curses himself for getting caught by a police officer and Raven simply gulps nervously. It turns out they got pulled over because one of the tail-lights isn't functioning properly. Still, they're in trouble. And what's worse is that neither Raven or Damian are wearing seatbelts. They do not have a licence or the age to drive. Plus, the car is not theirs. _Busted_.

And that is how Raven and Damian get arrested.


	3. Chapter 3: Arrested

Thank you for notifying me, officer," Starfire sighs while talking to a police through the phone, "I will make sure to be there soon."

She then hangs up the phone and groans in frustration, pinching the bridge of her nose. She then grabs her jacket and is heading out. The others are watching in confusion.

"Hey, Kori, what's up?" Cyborg asks in concern.

"Damian and Raven are in a police station," Starfire explains irritably, "They just got arrested."

"Arrested?" Both Beast Boy and Blue Beetle are shocked with what Starfire is saying. They are not surprised Damian getting arrested but no one excepted Raven to also get into trouble.

"For what?" Cyborg asks.

"For stealing my car."

* * *

Raven and Damian are sitting around in a prison cell, far away from other criminals that are eyeing at them, mostly at Raven. Damian puts his arm protectively around Raven, knowing that the criminals in the corner are having some interest towards her. Raven simply rests her head on his shoulder and tries not to look in their direction. Damian simply glares at the in full warning.

Damian knows that if any of them tries to put the moves on Raven, he'll hurt them...badly.

He watches as one of them gets up from the corner and is headed right for them. The guy looks like he's on high, Damian assumes. Raven's hand immediately tightens around Damian as the guy sits next to them. Again, Damian is slightly blushing at this gesture.

"Is she your girl?" the guy asks while eyeing at Raven. Damian's glare intensifies.

"She's my friend, who happens to be a girl," he sneers. Not the best choice of words when he knows he's sitting next to someone trying to put the moves on his teammate. The guy has yellowish teeth as he smiles at Raven.

* * *

Kori finally arrives at the police station after flying for through the city. She first called Dick to tell him about what happened. His response? "I knew something like this would happen." He doesn't seem surprise Damian stole her car since he already stole the Batmobile more than twice. Of course, he did not expect for Damian to drag Raven into the situation. Then she called Batman, and as expected, he is pissed off. He's not the only one. Kori is very angry with both of the kids, mostly at Damian. Not only did he took her car without permission but also risked Raven's life. Raven is only fourteen. If she's in jail, there will be a lot of pervs keeping an eye on her.

She arrives at the police station to ask for the children that got arrested for grand theft auto. They are registered. The kids are lucky to use their fake names so no one would recognize them: Rachel Roth and Damian Pennyworth. When she asks for the children, the cops tell her that they will not be pressed with charges since no real damage has been done but she'll still have to sign release forms for both of them.

An agonizing yell is suddenly heard throughout the station.

Kori watches as four policemen are dragging two thugs away in handcuffs, yelling in pain cursing. One has a broken ankle and is being half-dragged through the floor. The second one has a bloody nose. There is a commotion and more yelling coming from the jail cells down in the hallway.

Kori follows the chief of the police station to the jail cells. At the end of cells, Kori finds Damian pinning a man down on the floor and punching him in the face repeatedly. Three more are knocked out on the floor. And Raven is trying to haul Damian away, screaming at him to stop. Kori watches in horror as Damian continues punching the man in the face while snarling like a wild animal.

"You never ever touch her, you piece of vile shit!"

"Damian, please, stop it!" Raven cries out while pulling at his arm. "Please!"

"Damian, stop, he's had enough!" Kori yells at him.

Damian is immediately pulled away by two other policemen, one grabbing him by the wrists and the other grabbing him by the ankles. They carry him away like a heavy hammock while Damian struggles like a angry wildcat, screaming at them to let go. Raven tries to go after them but Kori holds her back. "No, wait, where are they taking him!? They can't take him away like that. He didn't do anything wrong. He was only trying to defend me."

"Don't worry, they're just going to take him to a solitary cell where he'll calm down, okay?"

Kori is horrified by this. She has never seen Damian this aggressive, not since the fight he had with Jaime when they first met. Like Raven said, he was only defending her but his aggression is fatal and dangerous. Kori knows she'll have to report this to Dick and Batman. She has never seen him this out of control before in her life. She still needs to sign the release forms for both of them, if Damian is not charge for violence.

* * *

Raven continues watching Damian from the other side of the glass. It's a one-way window, a bullet-proof one. She can see him but he can't see her. The chief of the police says that he'll be kept in there for a few hours or until he calms down. Damian keeps pacing around the empty cell. When she first saw him being placed in there, he was pounding and kicking against the solid glass, yelling and cursing profanities. Of course, they can't be heard through the glass. Good, because Raven doesn't want to know what he said. It's been almost an hour since he has been kicking and punching at the glass. She simply sits cross-legged on the floor on the other side, watching him lash out in anger without the knowledge of her in front of him. Raven can see that his knuckles have small bloody cuts from punching the guy in the face so much. She wishes he can see her so he can know he's not alone. _I'm right here, Damian_.

A while has passed when the kicking and hitting reduced. He gives a single kick before he starts pacing around the empty cell in frustration, grumbling to himself with his hands shoved in the pockets of his jacket. Now he's simply sitting on the floor with his back against the wall. If only I had reduced his anger sooner, maybe he wouldn't be in this cell in the first place.

Kori is at the waiting room, filling out our release forms. She wanted Raven to wait with her but Raven decided to sit here instead to watch Damian. She thinks he's in there because of me.

Raven doesn't understand how their little funny turned into disaster so quickly. Yes, he took Kori's car without permission. Yes, they left the Tower without permission. But it happened so fast, it still leaves Raven in shock. She hates seeing Damian this way.

 _ **Damian**_.

She watches Damian jump with a startle. He looks around in confusion. Raven knows he heard her but doesn't know where her voice is coming from. _I think he forgot our minds are still connected_.

 _ **Sorry. It's me. Raven**_.

Raven suddenly hears his voice echo in her head. _**Where are you?**_

 _ **Right in front of you**_ , she replies. **_It's a one-way glass, Damian. I can see you but you can't see me_**.

 ** _How long do I have to stay here?_**

 ** _The police say you have to stay there until you calm down. Kori is already filling out our release forms. She's not happy, by the way._ **

**_About the car or me hitting the idiots?_**

 ** _I think both...I'm sorry you're in here because of me._**

 ** _Because of you? Why? You didn't do anything wrong? Those a-holes should have kept their distances._**

 ** _Maybe if I had reduced your anger -._ **

**_Reduced?_** Damian frowns through the glass. She feels like he's glaring right at her. **_Number 1, no thanks. The last think I need is someone controlling my mind and emotions. It already happened to my father once. I don't want to repeat that cycle. Besides, I can control my own emotions if I wanted to. Second, it's not your fault I'm in here so don't be too hard on yourself_**.

He gets up from the floor and walks closer to the glass. He sits down cross-legged like Raven. He's just a few inches away from her. The only thing keeping between them is the one-way glass. If Raven were allowed to break the glass with her mind she would. But that will get them in even more trouble and Raven doesn't want to hurt Damian with shattered glass. He places his hand against the glass. Raven does the same.

 _ **I want you out of there**_ , she says to him.

 _ **So do I.**_

 _ **So calm down.**_

 _ **I am calm.** _

He is. But she notices something in his eyes. He looks... _sad_. Something is bothering him. Raven knows it. There are a lot of things in his head that are making him sad. They're like wasps buzzing his head, haunting and tormenting him day and night. They bother Raven as well, every time she walks past him in the morning for breakfast, every time they train, every time they fight villains and every night they go to sleep. It's like a non-stop television program that goes on and on without taking a commercial break. Raven have always had the urge to simply clear them out. Perhaps even wipe out his memory so he can begin clean again. But she knows better not to do that. It might be doing a favour but she knows that it's a selfish favour. If Damian says he can handle it, he can handle it. There's something in him and it's trying to claw it's way out. Something _not_ good.

* * *

 **Okay, so, this is my third chapter to _Judas Contract_. Tell me if it's good or you can say if it sucks. I really don't care which. But I'll be posting more soon so I'll be seeing you around.**


	4. Chapter 4: Conflict

"You two are not leaving the Tower without permission ever again, do you two understand?" Kori snapped at both Damian and Raven as they returned to the Tower where Victor, Garfield and Jaime were waiting. Kori was not at all happy with the situation at the police station. Stealing a car. Getting arrested. Getting into a fight in prison. And she had to spend 3 hours filling out the release form for both of them. It was absolutely aggravating for her. And what was worse was that Damian wasn't even apologizing. At least Raven said _they_ were sorry for the 8ooth time on the way home but Kori did not receive one apology from Damian. He just sat silently in the backseat looking out the window as if he didn't have anything to say. "The two of you are grounded. No TV for a week. And you will not be going out alone again. Do you two understand?"

Raven nodded fearfully and shamefully. She had never seen Kori so angry with them. "Yes, Kori. And we're really sorry. We promise it won't happen again."

"Why should we be sorry?" Damian then spoke up after a long time of silence. Victor, Garfield and Jaime were staring in disbelief. Damian simply gritted his teeth with his arms crossed. "We didn't do anything wrong."

Silence fell. It was awkward for everyone in the room. Kori glared at him and Damian glared back. The only thing standing between them was Raven, something many should be glad in order to avoid a physical fight.

"You stole my car, Damian," Kori snapped, "You left the Tower without permission and in the middle of the night when you know that it was dangerous out there after dark. What if something happened to you? To both of you? Didn't you think of that, Damian? What about Raven? Did you ever think of her safety?"

"She was safe. Nothing bad happened and we would have been fine if that stupid cop hadn't showed up and arrested us," Damian growled.

"You were lucky that the police called me or you would have to spend the entire night in the isolation chamber."

Victor looked at the three in shock. "Isolation chamber?"

Raven had to explain it to him. The thought of it made her shudder. "Damian fought some of the inmates that got too close to mean. He broke a few bones and unfortunately, the cops had to take him to an isolation chamber till he calmed down." She then turned to Kori, trying to defend Damian, "But it wasn't fault. It's mine —."

Damian put a hand on her shoulder. "Stop blaming yourself. It's not yourself."

"For once, I agree with Damian. You did nothing wrong, Raven." Her expression softened as she said that but it hardened again when talking to Damian. "But that doesn't give an excuse for neither one of you. You are still grounded, for negligence, endangerment and irresponsibility."

"You're not my mother, Kori!" Damian snapped. Raven could sense suppressed anger boiling up in his body and his fists were shaking violently.

"You're lucky that I'm not your mother, Damian. She would be very disappointed of you if she ever found out that you got yourself into trouble —."

"MY MOTHER IS DEAD UNDER WATER, BITCH!" Damian screamed in fury but immediately covered his mouth with his hands when those words automatically came out of his mouth. He looked at everyone wide-eyed. Everyone was staring at him in shock, including Raven. "I —." He immediately bolted out of the living room and ran back to his room.

Raven called back to him. "Damian!" But he was already gone.

" _Dios mio_ ," Jaime expressed. "I've never seen him this angry before."

"This is not good," Garfield said.

"I'm calling Dick about this," Kori sighed, "Maybe he can help. He knows how to handle Damian better than I do."

"Give him time, Kori," Victor assured. "I'm sure Damian didn't mean to snap like that. Give him time to calm down."

Kori was now talking to Dick about what happened with Damian through Skype. She was still trying to figure out Skype since she wasn't used to human technology and their customs. She told him everything, about the stolen car, the sneaking out, the arrest and Damian's behavior. Dick was left stunned, especially over the obscene word Damian called her. Kori explained that he was already pissed off even before getting home.

"Do you think we should tell Batman about this?"

"Oh heck no," Dick said, his eyes popping out, "You're lucky that you called me, Kori. If Batman finds out about this first, he's going to throw a fit."

"What do you think we should do then?" Kori asked while brushing down her red hair.

"Listen, I'll head over there tomorrow and talk to him," Dick assured her, "Maybe seeing me might lighten up things for him."

"Oh, I doubt. He's been very attached to Raven these past few weeks. It's difficult to separate him from her," she said. Kori was actually glad that Damian would hang around Raven. It helped him socialize. Of course, he was socializing a little too well. He was growing too attached to Raven, to a point that he wouldn't stop hovering. Kori had to find ways to get him stop hovering like a hawk, making him help around the house or insist to hang out with Jaime and Garfield instead. But it had proved difficult to keep them both apart.

"Something tells me he's in love with her," Dick said.

"There is a possibility of it. But his affections for her have proven to be quite fatal. He's becoming impatient and aggressive." She was worried how Damian's attachment towards Raven was affecting him. Was it doing him good? Or was it doing him worse? Kori was worried because she didn't know which was which.

"Again, I'm heading over there tomorrow and get him to calm down, okay? I'll see you around, Kori."

"Okay. Um, Dick, maybe once you get here, we could —." Dick already turned off Skype before Kori could say anything. She was feeling bad how she casted him aside every time he was asking her on a date. Of course, he cancelled their dates more than twice. But it wasn't his fault. They both knew the consequences of dating while being a superhero. Being a superhero was full of compromises and dedication to protect the cities they live in. They no longer had time to date with criminals escaping jail again and again, and then having to stop them over and over again. It was too much for them both.

She hoped things would get better. She wanted to keep the team together at the same time keep her relationship with Dick but how could she keep her life under control when she can't even control Damian?

"Damian?" Raven was sitting in front of Damian's bedroom door. It was locked. And she could hear angry noises from inside. She kept knocking on his door. "Please open the door. It's me."

Finally getting impatient, Raven phased through the door and immediately ducked her head when a blade came at her. It jammed onto the door above her head. Raven gasped and looked over at Damian in shock. He looked shocked as well, aside from being red in the face. The walls had a lot of knives stuck on them. _How long has he been doing this?_

"Are you crazy?" she snapped at him.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were there," he apologized. He still wouldn't look at her in the eyes. He was still pissed off.

"Damian, you yelled at Kori. You called her bad things. She was worried about us and you yelled at her. Why would you do that?"

"…I don't know."

"If you don't know, then why —?"

"I said I don't _know_ , Raven!" The way Damian was talking to her. He was so angry right now. It too difficult for Raven to break through. It was like a steel wall. Layers upon layers of steel hiding all that anger in his head. Raven wanted to help but she knew that she couldn't help unless she found out the source of what was making him angry nor could she do it without his consent. It pained her seeing him like this.

"Talk to me, Damian," she said with her eyes shining and arms crossed. "Tell me what's wrong."

"It's nothing," Damian gritted his teeth at her.

"You didn't know what you were doing," she said, "I know that you're angry at something. You have a lot of things in your head and it's making you angry for many days. Is that why you wanted me to go with you to the fair? To keep your mind away from whatever is disturbing you?"

Damian didn't say anything but crossed his arms and looked down at his feet. Raven knew that Damian wasn't willing to talk to her right now. He was still pissed off. Of course, she didn't know if he was angry with Kori or with himself.

"Fine," she sighed, "If you don't want to talk about this right now, I understand. But get this straight into your skull." She now spoke to him sternly and he looked at her with a surprised expression. "Once you walk out of this room, you will go straight to Kori and you will apologize to her. And you will never talk to her like that again. Do you understand?"

"Raven, I —."

" _Do_ you understand?" she snapped at him.

Damian slowly nodded. "Yes."

She gave him a small peck on the cheek though, much to his surprise and making his face turn crimson. "Thank you," she said, "for what you did for me at the station."

She turned to leave his bedroom but turned back to say: "You know, I'm still mad at you. But I'm still here for you no matter what. I just want you to know that."

With that, Raven left his bedroom and returned to her own bedroom where she curled up in her bed and began to tear up. _I'm not giving up on you, Damian. I'm not giving up on you_. She knew there was something wrong. She wanted to help. She saw a terrifying part of his future and didn't want it to come true. If she could do anything to help, maybe his future would change.

She then felt a soft breeze coming from her window. I didn't leave the window open.

Eyes widening, she looked over to the window and let out a piercing scream.

 **Sorry for the late update. Thanks for reading.**

 **Comment down below and tell me what you think.**


	5. Chapter 5: Fire

**I'm back guys, and with another chapter of** ** _Judas Contract_** **. Enjoy.**

* * *

Eyes widening, Raven looks over at the window and lets out a piercing scream as a shadowy figure climbs through her window and hops into her room. Luckily, it's just Damian who had the nerve to sneak into her room instead of using the door. _Clever_. He did this to avoid running into Starfire. It's like what Hermione Granger would say: _"What an idiot."_

Raven places a hand to her pounding chest and heaves a few breaths of relief. For a moment, she thought it was an intruder. One thing's for sure, Damian scared the living hell out of her. "You scared me to death."

Damian shuts the window and sits down on the edge of her bed. Annoyed, Raven takes her pillow and tosses it at him. Damian quickly swats it away before it hit his face.

"Sorry," he apologizes.

"You should be. You know I don't like being snuck up on," she hisses.

"No, I mean, I'm sorry about snapping at Starfire," Damian says, now looking down at his feet in shame, "You were right, I think I have a problem. I'm always angry. I don't know why. But I can't stop being angry no matter how much I try."

"I think I know why you're angry," she says softly. "Ra's. Your mother. Your father. You think they all abandoned you. First, your grandfather died. Your mother left you with your father only to find out she has been using you as a pawn to manipulate him and had no love for you. Then she tried to have him kill you and then she dies. And now you're here, thinking that no one cares about you anymore. Tell me if I'm wrong."

Damian doesn't say anything. He doesn't even look at her. And it's not just because she's already dressed for bed in a tank top and shorts. He knows that if he looks at her in the eyes, she'll find the answers she needs from him, just by simply looking at him in the eyes. Still, he nods in agreement.

Raven sits up and crawls over to him to the edge of the bed and places her hand on top of his. "You know you're not alone, right?"

He pulled his hand back roughly. "I feel alone. Now I feel like everyone hates me. Even Kori hates me now."

"No, Kori doesn't hate you. Damian, she doesn't hate. She's cranky right now but she doesn't hate you," she repeats to him. "You have to understand that she's trying very hard to take care of us and it's not right to treat her like she's not doing her best."

"So I'm guessing I should apologize to her," He's now looking at her in the eyes. Raven can see that his green eyes are full of sorrow and regret. She slowly nods.

"Yeah," she says, "but in the morning. Everyone is resting. Well, I possibly scared them away with my scream —."

"Hey, Raven, everything all right in there!?" It's Victor knocking on her door, startling them both.

"I'm fine! I just had a nightmare about a stalker sneaking into my room," she says while giving Damian a smirk while he gives her the stink eye, "but I'm good now."

"Okay, I'll be down the hall if you need me," he says.

"Thank you, Vic."

They waita in silence until they hear Victor's footsteps fade down the hallway.

"Really? I'm _stalking_ you?" he asks in a whisper so no one can hear them.

"You did just enter my room through the window so yeah." She chuckles. Damian simply huffs and lies down on her bed. Raven lies down next to him and puts a hand to his shoulder. "Do you want to watch a movie? You know, take your mind off things aside from covering the walls in your room with holes? I have movies."

"I don't see how a small fragment of entertainment will make me feel better," he says.

"Classic horror movies have always been my favourite," she says while getting up from the bed and heading over to her closet, "I watch them and imagine Garfield being eaten by the monsters." She opens up her closet door and digs through the boxes beneath her clothes. Damian notices that she has very dark clothing. Some of them look 19th century or from the 50's. She probably likes old fashion things. "Let's see. We've got _The Cabin in the Woods_ , the old one not the new one. I didn't like the new one. We got _Scream_. _The Babadook_ , this one gives me the creeps but I love it anyway; it's psychological horror. _Dracula_ from 1931. _Let Me In_ , another vampire film. _A Nightmare on Elm Street_. I don't know if you heard of this one."

"Grandfather and Mother were never movie people but I am aware of the contents of the films," he says as he abruptly sits up, "It's a monster with blades for fingers that stalks children in their nightmares."

"You got most of the part right. It's not technically a monster, it's more of the ghost of a disfigured serial killer," she says.

"What's the difference?" he arches his eyebrow when saying that. Raven bites her lip at that question. She has no answer to that. It's basically the same. Freddy Krueger is a monster in a way.

"Good point." And she continues rummaging through the books of DVD's and BlueRays. "Let's see. _The Ring_. Nope. Definitely not watching that one. I couldn't sleep after that one. _Poltergeist, Halloween, Rosemary's Baby, Carrie, The Shining, Jaws_ …."

Damian kneels on the floor, taking a look at the movies scattered on the floor. He picks one up. _Let Me In_. _Interesting_ , he thought. He reads the plot on the back. He thinks it interesting as well. Perhaps he might like it as well. He pokes Raven on the shoulder and gives her the movie he prefers to watch.

Raven smiles and takes the DVD box in her hands. " _Let Me In_ it is."

They both watch the movies. Damian is lucky it wasn't some teen drama with sparkling vampires or he'd be pulling his hair out right from the scalp in frustration and anger. Raven chuckles thinking of that. She snuck into the kitchen to smuggle a bag of popcorn, red licorice, a gallon of soda and leftover pizza Garfield and Jaime were planning on having for lunch tomorrow. _Your loss, boys_ , she thought and then teleports back to her room before she'd be spotted.

Raven and Damian watch the movie together on the bed while eating popcorn. Knowing Damian, he would be drifting off to sleep in boredom at any movie he finds unentertaining, tedious and just right down boring. Raven is surprised that his eyes are still glued to screen, watching every second of the movie barely taking a second to blink. The story is simple: a bullied 12-year-old boy developing a friendship with a girl that turns out to be a vampire. Raven experiences a déjà vu watching the movie with Damian. Damian is thirteen though but it's all the same. A troubled 13-year-old boy befriending a demon's spawn. Ironic, isn't it?

Damian, of course, is watching the film with an almost sorrowful expression. The mother in the film doesn't seem to be doing anything at all about her son's bullying. Damian mentally criticizes her neglectful parenting, simply sleeping on the couch after taking too many drinks and then not bothering on making more thorough questions about the cut on boy's face. It's just dreadful. The mother's incompetence is unbearable. He frowns at the screen. How neglectful Talia was to Damian, leaving him in the care of his father and then to use him as a pawn. But he enjoys the friendship between the boy and the girl. What's the girl's name again? Abby? Every time he sees Abby appear, it reminds him of Raven. How much Abby tries to help that Owen boy. And how much Raven tries to help Damian with his own troubles. Damian doesn't think he needs help. It turns out he does need help.

Damian doesn't notice Raven holding his hand until he feels her fingers coil into his palm. He looks at her hand squeezing around his and she tilts her head to rest on his shoulder. His face turns slightly red but doesn't do anything to move away. His hand squeezes hers in return.

After an hour and a half, the end credits roll. By the time that happened, both Raven and Damian drift off to sleep. Damian found the movie enjoyable but he's too tired. His muscles ache from all the physical training. And he guesses Raven is tired as well. Just as he suspected. Once he looks over, Raven is already fast asleep, her head still on his shoulders. He feels a bit embarrassed having her like this. It makes him feel uncomfortable. Physical contact is not his thing. Still, he enjoys Raven's company more than anything else. He doesn't feel so alone when around her.

He lowers her down to her bed and drapes the sheets over her before lying down himself and falls asleep as well. He knows that without Raven, he's miserable in the Tower. He will hate the others even more if she's not here. Raven is basically the only thing keeping him calm and controlled of his anger. Without her, he'd go nuts.

* * *

Outside Titans Tower, a dark figure watches the two Titans with a pair of binoculars from behind a rock. The figure watches the pair sitting on the bed, eating sweets and junk food while watching a movie together. The figure notices the girl's hand holding the boy's and the boy doesn't pull back. His face instead flushes and turns crimson. The dark figure can tell that the boy likes her. Even the second figure next to him can tell as well. The boy and the girl fall asleep after the movie ends. The dark figure chuckles to himself before putting the binoculars away.

"What should we do now?" the second figure asks.

"Get you in the Tower, obviously."

"Doubt that's going to happen. The Tower is explicitly secure. I'm not a hacker."

"Well then. They'll just have to invite you in, my dear."

"How?"

"First thing's first. We get their attention."

"And how do you suppose we do that?"

The dark figure looks over at the city beyond the Titans Tower. He knows exactly how to get the Titans' attention.

* * *

The sound of the alarm going off startle Raven and Damian to awaken from their deep slumber.

"Trouble!" Raven exclaims as she scrambles out of her bed. Damian does the same. "You need to get dressed. Go. Get out of here."

Raven opens the door with her powers and nearly pushes Damian out of her bedroom. She isn't going to let him out the window again. Once he's out of her bedroom, she slams the door shut and hurries to get dressed.

Damian ran down the hallway to head for his room, only to stop in front of Kori. _Uh-oh_ , he thought. He didn't think he would run into Kori.

"What were you doing in Raven's room, Damian?" she asked, crossing her arms and frowning down at him. She was already dressed in her uniform. She was already ready to go to whatever trouble the city was in.

"Um, nothing bad, I swear," he says, trying not to look at her in the eyes, "We were just watching a movie, that's all."

"Didn't I just say you two were grounded?" she reminded him.

He didn't want to start another fight with Kori. The last fight went really bad and he didn't want to make it worse with another one. He already called her bad names. He immediately regretted that. But he still couldn't bring himself to apologize to her. Maybe it was because he thought she might not forgive him after the things he said.

"I know. Kori, I…" he tried to say it. He tried to say 'I'm sorry' but the words didn't leave his mouth. Instead, he looked down in shame.

Kori's hardened expression softens when she notices what Damian is attempting to do. She knows he's trying to apologize to her but also notices that he can't say it. He looks ashamed. It's fear. Kori gently places a hand on his shoulder which makes him look up at her. "We'll talk about it later, okay? Get dressed."

Damian nods and does what Kori asked. He goes back to his bedroom and dresses into his uniform.

Everyone meets at the Common Room where Victor/Cyborg is checking on the city perimeter to see what the emergency is. The image on the screen shows a flaming building and people running out of it screaming in terror, mostly children. Raven, Damian, Jaime, Garfield and Kori meet up to watch the building in shock.

"It's the city's orphanage," Victor informs them, "It caught on fire."

"There could still be children trapped in there," Kori says, "Titans go!"

* * *

In less than five minutes, the Titans arrive at the burning building. Damian was the only one in the Titans that couldn't fly so he was being carried by Garfield/Beast Boy. "Dude, what have you been eating!?" he complains as he stretches his arms after holding onto Damian's weight.

There are children running out of the building, screaming, crying and coughing with their faces covered in soot. The headmasters are making sure the children are getting out of the building safely but it's not enough. The Titans know there are still children trapped inside the burning orphanage.

"Raven, you and Damian teleport inside the building on the top level and get every kid out of there!" Kori commands, "Garfield, you and Jaime try to find water to turn off the fire. Cyborg, fly around the perimeter and gather up the children running. We can't let them run off on their own. I'll try to help the headmasters help the children out from the floor level. Everyone wear gas masks and don't breathe any of the fumes."

Raven takes Damian under the arms and flies up to the higher part of the building. Garfield and Jaime fly away to find water. They would have to steal a firetruck for a fire this big. Cyborg flies away as well to gather up the fleeing children. Kori goes inside the lower level of the building to help out the remaining children.

Not only were there kids, there are babies and toddlers. They screech and cry as Damian and Raven yank them out of their cradles and pass them through the portals. They don't have time to be gentle since the building is going to crash down on them in any minute. Raven opened up the portal in the building that would lead outside. She instructed the headmaster to stay in front of the portal so she can pass the babies and toddlers to them. They pass the children two by two. The leave no stone unturned till they found every child, baby, and toddler in the top and middle floor.

"I can't believe the headmasters would just leave them like that!" Damian snaps loudly through the fire. The entire room is engulfed in smoke and fire. The walls are burning red. The ceiling is becoming black and cloudy.

"They panicked, Robin, I don't think they knew what they were doing!" Raven shouts as she passes the last baby through the portal. She makes sure the headmasters took the baby by looking through the portal every time. Her nose is beginning to bleed from the worn out energy. "I think that's the last one!"

"Once we get home, I'm calling Batman to make sure these kids are sent somewhere safe!"

"Now you're talking like a true hero!" Raven smiles as she opens up her communicator and calls Kori, "Kori, I think we got them all!"

"Good, so did I! Cyborg already gathered the rest of the kids and Garfield and Jaime are here with water and the fire department and an ambulance! Get out of there you two! That's an order!"

"Yes, ma'am." She snaps her communicator shut and puts it back in her pocket. "We got to go—."

She then hears a whimper. A child's whimper. A little girl. They missed one. _Damn it_ , she thought. The whimper is coming from under a baby's crib. Raven looks under the crib to find an eight-year-old African-American girl curled up and clutching at a teddy bear while crying.

"Hey, sweetie," Raven kneels and reaches out her hand to her, "What's your name?"

"Nell!" the girl cries.

"Okay, Nell, my name is Raven. Now you have to come with me —."

"I want my daddy!" Nell cries out.

"Nell, listen, this place is going to burn down any second, you need to come now!" Raven reachs her arm further and grabs the girl's arm. She won't budge. "Now!" With that, she yanks the girl from under the crib and holds her to her chest. The girl Nell wraps her arms and legs Raven tightly as she squeals loudly. Raven covers the child with the cloak to keep her from burning or inhaling smoke. She runs towards Damian with the girl in her arms, only for a piece of the ceiling to crash down onto Raven and she falls on face first on the floor. She has her hand on the back of Nell's head to keep her from hitting it.

Nell screams in terror while Raven screams in pain. The beam attached to the ceiling broke off due to the fire eating away the wood and crashed down onto Raven's left leg.

"Raven!" Damian calls out to her.

"Here! Take her!" Raven immediately passes Nell to Damian.

"I'm not leaving here without you!"

"Go! I'll be right behind you!" It's a complete lie though. The beam snapped her leg in half. She felt the bones crack and felt the burning wood sear through the flesh of her calf. She cries out in pain as she tries to pull her leg from under it.

Damian takes the child to the portal and almost throws her through it before returning to Raven and tries to pull her out from under the beam. She screams as she feels the splintered wood tearing through her flesh and making the damage even worse.

"Ow! It's not working! You need to leave, Robin or we both die!" Raven shouts. She knows that she's going to die if she can't get out from under the beam. She doesn't want to see Damian die too because of her.

"No! I leave with you or I won't leave at all!" Damian yells angrily as he tries lifting up the beam instead of trying to pull Raven from under it. He knows it would acquire a lot of strength since it's a very heavy beam. But he has to try. He doesn't want to leave Raven alone here to die. He doesn't want her to die. Unfortunately, he's unable to lift the beam. It's too heavy for him. It's as heavy as trying to pull up Tusk which he also failed to do so. He doesn't want to fail this time.

"You need help with that?"

Damian looks around for the source of the voice until he finally finds a girl probably of Raven's age standing right new the portal whilst they came from. She is wearing an orange and brown uniform with a black eye-mask and has short blonde hair and blue eyes. She is also wearing a gas mask. _Where did she come from?_ Damian thought.

She immediately runs towards Raven and Damian and grabs one end of the beam. She's lucky to wear gloves or her hands would be burned by the burning wood. She grits her teeth as she tries lifting up the beam. She groans as she pushes harder.

"Are you going to help me or what?" she growls harshly.

Damian does as she says and grabs the other end of the beam. He can ask her questions later. His main priority is getting Raven to safety.

"On the count of three! One! Two! Three!" the girl shouts and they both lift the beam with full force until it's completely off Raven's leg.

Once they are able to toss the beam away, Damian takes Raven by the arm and lifts her up. The girl with blonde hair takes Raven by the other arm and helps her up as well. Raven can't move her left leg because of the damage caused by the beam. She can only hop on her right leg.

"You go on, I got her!" the girl says.

"No! I'm not leaving her!" Damian says.

At the end, they were finally able to get Raven out of the fire and the building collapsed to the ground.

* * *

The fire department managed to hose down the fire before it could spread to the next building. There are more than 10 ambulances attending to the survivors of the fire, including Raven. Raven is in one of the ambulances having her leg check after the beam broke in two. She is also connected to a respiratory machine to regulate her breathing after inhaling so much smoke, just like the other kids. Damian is also obligated to be connected to a respiratory machine for he too inhaled smoke as well as the blonde chick that helped them. Of course, she is in another ambulance.

"Are you okay?" Damian asks Raven. She nods in response but her eyes are closed tightly from the pain she's feeling in her leg right now. Damian can see the flesh of her thigh and calf torn, scorched and blistered. It looks like it was boiled.

"We need to get her to a hospital," the paramedic says, "This is a third degree burn. She'll lose the leg if we don't attend it immediately."

"Then do it," Damian hisses commandingly. He know they are wasting time sitting here. Of course, the paramedic ignores his snarky behavior.

"We're on it, sweetie. Just give me a second."

"Is she going to be okay?" Kori asks from outside the ambulance.

"Third degree burns is quite severe, Miss," the paramedics says as she gathers up her medical tools. "But don't worry. She'll live. We still need to get her to a hospital before the burns get infected."

"I'll come. I'm responsible for them both," Kori climbs into the ambulance. She asks Victor if he could take charge of things while she's at the hospital with Damian and Raven. Damian protested about having the respiratory machine. He had been wearing the gas mask the entire time. He didn't find it necessary, unlike Raven.

Damian keeps wondering who the blonde girl is. She saved them. But for what purpose?

* * *

"Oh god," the blonde girl groans as she inhales deeply through the mask of the respiratory machine. _I'm going to kill him for this_ , she thought. It didn't go as she planned it. Raven isn't supposed to live. She failed that part. Of course, she did succeed into getting the Titans attention. It's what her boss wanted. Get the Titans' attention. Step 1 is complete.

"Hey, thanks for your help," the blonde girl sees a green kid approach her. His eyes are gold but his entire skin is green. "We really appreciate it."

The blonde girl stares at him without expression. Well, the green kid can't see her expression because of the respiratory mask and the black mask she's wearing. The green kid smiles broadly and scratches the back of his head.

"Um, you're welcome," she says in an uncomfortable fashion, her voice clearly being muffled by the plastic mask in her face.

"So, what's your name?" the green kid asks and extends his hand, "I'm Beast Boy, by the way."

The blonde girl looks at the green kid's hand and is skeptical about taking it but at the end, she shakes hands with him. "Terra," she says.

* * *

"It's done, jackasses. I almost died doing your stupid job. Thanks so much." Terra says while entering the dark chamber. The only thing lighting it up is the wide and large computer screen attached to the wall. She can see monitors showing videos of the burning orphanage and the Titans in action. Of course, one of the monitors shows a particular image. Her and that Robin boy taking out an injured Raven out of the building. "His pretty bird is alive so sorry if I failed in killing her."

"And who says we wanted her dead," she hears a male voice echoing from all around her and she jumps with a startle.

"If I recall correctly, you guys keep saying that in order to hurt Robin, we would have to kill his pretty bird and that's what I was about to do," Terra says while looking around, her fists ready for a fight. She knows that her bosses will advance to attack her anytime soon.

"We didn't say you should kill her right now," another voice says, a lot deeper than the first one and a lot more sinister. "We need her alive for now. Without her, it's a guarantee that the boy will come after us without stopping and without hesitation of killing us. We need to put him in his place. And for that we need Raven alive. She will die but within time. Do not rush things, Terra."

"Yes, masters," Terra nods in agreement.

"You did exceptionally well, Terra," the first voice says, "You have finally gotten their attention. Everything is according to plan."

"Good. Now can I see him?" Terra asks, "I would really like to see Brion."

"Of course, dear," the second voice says. "But first…"

There's a moment of silence before Terra feels a punch in the face and is knocked out.

* * *

 **Sorry about the false scare guys. Lol. I promise it won't happen again. Unless you want more.**

 **Thanks for reading and for waiting patiently for this chapter. I appreciate it. Don't worry. More will come. We already know that Terra is working for Slade but who is the other guy working for Slade? Who's the douchebag that punched the daylights out of her. We'll just have to find out in the next chapter.**

 **Anyways, leave a review down below and tell me what you think of this chapter and thank you all for reading.**


	6. Chapter 6: Antagonizing

**Well, here we go. Another chapter to** ** _Judas Contract_** **.**

 **There will be elements of Rebirth in this story. I've been reading the new comics and to me, they are fantastic. I can't wait for the new** ** _Teen Titans Rebirth_** **to arrive. Also, I just published the first chapter to my new story on Slade called** ** _Deathstroke Terminus_** **. It's still a work in process and it's the first chapter so far but I'm actually going to make another soon so if you guys want to check it, I appreciate.**

 **Anyways, here we go in 3…2…1. Enjoy.**

"How are you feeling?" Damian asks Raven while sitting down next to her hospital bed. He looks at her leg bandaged and casted. The damage was nasty. Damian and the others waited 12 desperate hours for Raven to get out of surgery. Raven is lucky the doctors were able to save her leg. He wouldn't stop pacing around the waiting room.

"Like I just got crushed by a beam," Raven croaks tiredly before giving Damian a small smile. She's still on meds. She just woke up from anesthesia after hours of sleep and still feels like crap. Damian frowns at her, not thinking the joke at all funny. "I'm messing with you. I'm fine. I just need to heal, that's all."

"The doctors say that the burns on your leg were lessening once they brought you to the hospital but they still needed to take you to surgery," he says in a worrisome tone.

"I heal fast, Damian. I'm part demon, remember?" she croaks again. Her lips are white and chapped. She needs water. "I have more white cells than two people put together. I suppose Kori would have to explain that to the doctor."

"…I thought you were going to die," he frowns at her. Raven immediately reaches out and takes his hand in hers.

"Damian, it's okay. I'm fine. It's just a broken leg," she says.

"It could have been worse. You almost lost that leg."

"But I'm alive, am I? Be lucky that other girl helped us out from the fire or we'd both be ashes right now. You still have second degree burns on your hands. I'm guessing you didn't let the doctors near you."

"I tried looking through every file but there's data, no history, no background check on the blonde girl. It's like she doesn't even exist," he says.

"Please don't be like your father and start obsessing over this girl," she says, "Remember when you were trying to research on _me_?"

Damian smiles slightly. "You _still_ think I'm a stalker."

"You _are_ a stalker, Damian," she giggles but stops to let out a painful whimper, "It hurts to laugh."

"You need rest," he says, "The doctors say that you might be able to go home tomorrow. I hope they let you out of here. The doctors here are incompetent and useless. They were really slow. I would have repaired you in less than 5 hours instead of twelve."

"Would you?" Raven raises an eyebrow at him.

He crosses his arms and glares at her. "Yes."

Raven sighs at his stern words but she knows that he actually means it. He almost died in the fire trying to save her. He is too stubborn to obey people and she should have expected that Damian wasn't going to abandon Raven in the fire. Luckily the blonde girl showed up or both of them would have been cooked and crushed. Damian is still determined to find out whom that blonde girl is and Raven knows she can't do anything about it. Once Damian gets obsessed with something, there's no stopping him. Still, she praises him for being a good team member and not leaving her behind even if she begged him to leave.

Raven takes his hand again and brushes her thumb over his knuckles. "I'm worried about you sometime. Every time you get obsessed with something, you turn into a completely different person," she whispers, "There's one thing I can tell you about that blonde girl you probably didn't notice. She's European. She has the accent. I think I just made your investigation much easier now."

Damian smiles softly and kisses the top of her head.

"So, what happened to my uniform?" she asks. Damian shows her the bundle in his hands that used to be her uniform. Now her cloak and the rest of uniform are all tattered and covered in scorch marks. Raven gasps at what's left of her uniform and smacks her hand to her temple. "Oh no."

Terra is doing groceries at the supermarket at the same time keeping an eye out on anything suspicious. The supermarket is near the hospital where the Titans and the children from the fire are being attending so it seems to be safe for her to buy food without raising much suspicion. She's also keeping an eye on her bosses. She knows that they're watching her every move. She hates her bosses, especially the son of bitch that punched her in the face the other night. She simply did what she was asked to do. They can't blame her for not listening to the entire plan. _How am I supposed to know that Raven is not supposed to die?_ She thought as she collects a bunch of apples into the plastic basket. She can still feel her head and jaw ache from the blow she received by her boss's partner. She has the bruise on her jaw and a busted lip to prove it. When she entered the supermarket first, many of the buys were staring at her, and they still are. She simply ignores them as if they don't exist. _He didn't have to hit me. He could simply said "Don't do it again" but no, he had to freaking punch me in the freaking face. Jeez_. At least they let her see Brion afterwards —."

"Hey!" Terra hears a cheerful voice next to her and sees the green boy she met at the night of the fire. What's his name again? Beast Boy. That's his name. She sees him picking out celery. He's wearing an orange hoodie and a brown baseball cap. He's waving hello to her. _What do I do? What do I do?_ Before she can even think about leaving, he's already talking to her. "It's you. I didn't expect to see you again after you bailed from the ambulance."

"Yeah, me either," she says and gives him a fake smile. Beast Boy's smile quickly drops when he sees the bruise on her jaw.

"Whoa, what happened to you?" he asks with concern. Terra nearly forgot about the bruise and instantly covers it with her hand. He wasn't supposed to see that.

"It's nothing," she lies to him.

"That sure doesn't look like nothing," Beast Boy continues. "You look terrible."

"Would you knock it off? It's none of your business," Terra snaps at him, which startles the green boy. She then sighs to calm herself down. She has a really bad habit of snapping at people when she gets mad. It's one of the things that got her and Brion stuck in this mess in the first place. _It's always my fault_. "Listen, I appreciate your concern but I really am fine. I just had a bit of trouble with a few thugs. Things went a bit rough and that's how I got this bruise on jaw. It's nothing serious, really."

"Well, you can at least buy something to help the swelling go down," Beast Boy suggest, "It looks pretty swollen. I can buy them for you, if you like."

"No, but thanks anyways."

"No, I insist."

At the end, Beast Boy buys her the bandages. She has refused it many times but the green wouldn't stop hovering. He even buys her a Hershey bar. He tells her that he was only at the market to buy food for Raven since the food at the hospital is terrible. The vegetables have no color and tastes like nothing. He doesn't eat any meat but Jaime told him that the meat tastes rubbery and like it's been submerged in dish water. So Beast Boy is doing a favor and buys a few snacks for everyone like cans of soups and sweets. Since he has lived with Raven at the Tower a lot longer, he already knows her favorite soup. New England clam chowder. Jaime likes chili. Starfire likes pea soup. He doesn't know what Damian likes (since he's been only living in the Tower for a short while) so he simply buys him a can of chicken noodle soup. He also buys Twinkies and a can of Bean Boozled jelly beans. He's buying them to play a prank on both Damian and Jaime.

Should I tell him? Terra thought. She knows that the jelly beans will look exactly the same so there's no telling which is which. The brown jelly bean can either be chocolate pudding or canned dog food. He'll never know for sure until he tries it.

She actually likes this Beast Boy kid. He's really friendly and goofy, something she hasn't seen in a long while. But she knows very well…if she crosses her bosses, she'll be in big trouble and either Brion or the green kid can pay the price for her stupidity.

A few hours later, Raven is finally allowed to leave the hospital. They were astonished how Raven's leg is healing so quickly. The burns on her leg reduced drastically and broken bone is nearly healed. She's relieved. She can't stand another minute in that hospital, lying on the bed, confined behind four white walls with bright lights, the annoying beeping and the voice of the receptionist calling the doctor every now and then, the tasteless meals and nurses hovering over her. Luckily, Beast Boy brought her favorite soup or she would have gone insane. But still, she wanted to leave and the doctors let her go early. _Home_.

On the way home, Garfield wouldn't stop insisting for Damian and Jaime to try those Bean Boozled jelly beans he bought at the supermarket. She knows what they are. She watches _Harry Potter_ like everyone else. After so many refusals, Garfield actually gets them to try the jelly beans. Jaime gags in disgust when he eats one that tastes like rotten eggs. Damian takes a bit out of it but his face doesn't change from expression. "Hhmm, tastes like chocolate pudding," he says. Raven chuckles at Garfield's failure on pranking Damian. He immediately snatches the bean from Damian's hand and tries it himself, only for him to gag and spit the bean out the window.

"You're such a liar. That was dog food!" Garfield exclaims in outrage. Damian simply smirks at Garfield before spitting out the piece he has in his own mouth. He didn't even eat it. He tricked Garfield.

"Don't hate the player, hate the game and the guy who invented it," he says.

"You got served, _hombre_ ," Jaime laughs.

They return to the Tower in the afternoon. But as soon as they return, they are met with an unexpected surprise, a surprise that makes Raven give an anxious Damian a concerned look. Nightwing. And Batman.

"You _told_ him?" Kori hisses at Dick in the hallway, her arms crossed and her green eyes furrowed.

"I had to. I'm sorry, Kori. I tried not to but he wouldn't stop hovering," Dicks explains but it's not an excuse good enough for Kori.

"It doesn't matter. Now Damian is going to blame me for it. I thought you said you would come here and talk to him. You did not warn me that Batman was coming."

"Listen, I'm sure Batman is trying his best not be harsh with the kid," Dick says calmly. Of course, Kori is still glaring at him. "Or maybe not."

Bruce and Damian are in the common room alone. Raven has been taken back to her room to rest, Jaime and Garfield are sent to the training room while Dick and Kori wait in the hallway. Damian still can't believe Kori told his father about what happened at the station. Of course, he should have seen it coming. He knew something like this will happen eventually. Now his own father is sitting opposite side across the table, glaring at him with arms crossed. He knows he is in deep trouble.

"What happened?" Bruce asks with a stern tone in his voice.

"It was nothing, Father," Damian responds. His father's eyes narrow. He is not pleased with the response.

"Getting Raven and yourself arrested doesn't sound like nothing," he says.

"We weren't doing anything wrong, Father, we were simply —."

"Do you think you can just take Raven for a joyride and expect not to get caught -?"

"But it wasn't her fault. It's mine. She told me it was a bad idea and I didn't listen —."

"Then why didn't you?" he asks.

"…I — I—."

"Were you trying to prove something to her?" Damian doesn't say anything and Bruce continues. "And what about the fight you had with one of the prisoners where you put in an isolation chamber to calm her down? As far as Dick told me, Raven was the reason you got into that fight in the first place —."

"You're always blaming Raven," Damian growls at him, "Just like when you blame her for Trigon nearly destroying the world. It's not like she wanted to be half-demon."

"I never said it was her fault, Damian."

"But you're thinking about it. I know you were holding a thorough investigation on Raven to see if she had us manipulated or brainwashed. You had copies of my X-Rays, from _my_ brain. I hacked into your computer and was disgusted to see it. So I deleted it. You never trusted her. I'm supposed to be the one who doesn't trust anyone. But you don't trust her…or me."

"Damian —."

"She almost died in a fire, Father. The roof fell onto her leg and she couldn't get out. I stayed to help her. She told me to leave but I didn't. She could have manipulated me or pushed me out with her powers but she didn't. I decided to stay and help her. She never manipulated me. I did that on my own."

"This isn't about blaming Raven, Damian! This is about you being reckless and careless!" Bruce snaps at him, causing the Boy Wonder jump with a startle, "What _were_ you thinking!? You could have gotten hurt! What if something happened to you!?"

"I've driven the Batmobile more than a thousand times!" Damian snaps back, "I was doing fine!"

"And what about Raven!? Did you think of her safety at all? Did you think for a second that something could have happened to her!?"

"Leave her out of this, Father!"

"I understand that you care for her, Damian. That's why you acted so reckless and why you attacked one of the prisoners in jail. She's the reason why we're having this conversation in the first place —."

"She's the reason why I'm still alive, Father. Why everyone is alive. She's the reason that demon is gone. She's also the reason why I didn't burn in that building." Damian is not planning on telling him about the blonde girl that saved both him and Raven from the fire. He lifts up the sleeve of his uniform and stares at the first and second degree burns he has decorating his wrists. He burned his hand while trying to lift the beam from Raven's leg. "You judge her too much, Father. You don't see me judging Selina Kyle, Barbara Gordon, Helena Bertinelli, Ivy Pepper or Dinah Lance. And you know very well what I think of all of them. I understand that I made a mistake. I know that. It won't happen again. But don't ever blame Raven. _Ever_."

Bruce continues glaring daggers at him. Damian has grown too emotionally attached to Raven. It's noticeable. Even the villains might see it. If Damian doesn't cool down his emotions, he is opening up a weakness to every villain they encounter. And the fire in the building is just the beginning.

Bruce stands up and gives Damian a final warning. "This better be the last time you let your emotions guide your actions. If this happens again, I'm taking you back home."

Damian now stares his at father with wide eyes as he watches him leave the room. He then places his hands to his face and lets out a loud groan in frustration.

Bruce and Dick leave the Tower after the heated argument with Damian. They are silent in the Batmobile for a while before Dick finally speaks up.

"That could have gone better," Dick says. Bruce doesn't reply to his comment, he just continues driving with his eyes glued to the road. "Kori is pissed with me, thanks a lot, by the way. I knew I shouldn't have told you if this was going to happen."

Again, Bruce says nothing.

"We're not leaving San Francisco, are we?"

"No," Bruce says, "We have to investigate the fire from last night. I have my doubts that it was an accident."

"How do you know?"

"I just do."

"…So, is it true what you told him? You really are going to take him back home?" Dick asks. He hasn't been eavesdropping but the argument can be heard from down the hallway. The angrier the tone, the louder it got.

"If he acts this way again, I will," Bruce says. Dick knows that Bruce is being true to his threat. He can tell by the harsh tone in the Dark Knight's voice.

"Look, I know that Damian was reckless in stealing Kori's car, sneaking out, getting himself arresting and beating up a prison guy, but don't you think that's a little bit too harsh?" he asks.

"No, I don't."

"Okay then," Dick drawls, "But with all fairness, I don't think the rest has to do with Damian being reckless. We all know that you don't trust Raven. You don't even like her. Hell, every time you look at her, you look like you're about to strangle her. You look straight through her. You should know that she's afraid of you, right?"

"She should be afraid of me," Bruce says sternly, "Her father nearly destroyed the world and she was part of it."

"You do realize that she didn't ask to be a demon's daughter, right?" Dick forgot to tell him that Raven actually admires Batman. She knows of his past. She knows the loss he had suffered and trauma he went through and still managed to get back up and become the hero Gotham needed. But once Raven finally met Batman in person, she has grown to be afraid of him. Dick warned her about Batman and he knew she'd be afraid of him once she met him. And he's been right so far. She hasn't spoken a word to Dick when she and the team arrived back at the Tower. She didn't even say _hello_. She just kept looking at the floor, too afraid to look at him or Batman.

Striking fear into the hearts of the enemy is one thing. Striking fear into the heart of a friend is different. Raven is not an enemy. And yet, Bruce still treats her like one.

"I do. But still, there's darkness in her, Dick. I can tell. And that darkness is dangerous."

"And you're afraid that she might corrupt Damian? Bruce, I've known Raven for a long time. She's a good girl. You have no idea how long she's been struggling to keep herself out of the dark, how she tried to keep people out of her life so they wouldn't be in danger, and then the nightmares. Holy shit, Bruce, you have no idea what that was like. One minute, you're trying to sleep and then the next thing you know you hear her scream. It was like something out of a horror movie. She sounded like she was being murdered or something. It scared the living heck out of me. It scared everyone."

Bruce doesn't respond to that. Everyone has nightmares. Dick still has nightmares of his falling parents. Sometimes he has nightmares of himself falling. Bruce even has nightmares of his dead parents. What makes Raven any different?

"All I'm saying is that she's no different from any of us. You had your struggles and she's still having hers. You should understand that. And instead of criticizing or judging her, you should help her, just like you helped me, Jason, Tim and Damian. So I think you should quit being a douche and stop antagonizing her every time Damian gets into trouble."

"I don't hate her, Dick."

"Then stop treating her that way," his eyes narrow as he says this. Dick has always seen Raven like a little sister.

"It's not easy, Dick, letting my son near a girl who has no control of her own abilities and has a dangerous demon for a father."

"It's never easy, Bruce. Trust me. It took us like a year to get Raven to leave her room more often. She has always been afraid of hurting people. I actually get why you don't want Damian near her. You're afraid she might lose control and hurt Damian. It wouldn't be the first time she lost control of herself."

"You make it sound like a daily routine," Bruce says monotonously.

Dick still remembers the incident with Doctor Light. They were fighting Doctor Light when he was robbing technology. He blasted a beam of light in Raven's face and she got pissed. She went demon on him and nearly killed him. Beast Boy had to restrain her to keep her from killing him. She was a completely different person at that moment. She wasn't acting like herself, growling and thrashing like an animal with her eyes all black and her hands covered in blood. She acted completely inhuman. It happened a long time ago. She was only twelve at the time and wasn't completely in control of her emotions and abilities. She was still new to the Titans at the time.

"It's more like a monthly routine, actually," Dick sighs as he tries to shrug away that memory. It gave him nightmares for weeks. And Raven wouldn't come out of her room for more than two months. Dick had seen her sneak out of her room in the middle of the night to eat while everyone was sleeping. Dick knew that she didn't want to see anyone. She was ashamed for what she did. "He saw the X-Rays, did he?" he asks.

"Yes. He wasn't happy about it."

"And what did he _say_?" Dick knew that this would happen one day. Damian knows everything Bruce keeps in the Batcave computer. There's no secret Damian doesn't know about it.

"He only saw the X-Rays of his brain, Dick, he didn't see the rest," Bruce sighs. Dick's eyes widen.

"You mean, he doesn't know and you're not planning on telling him?"

"I don't think it's the right time to tell him. I only let him see what I wanted him to see. I need him to calm down first. He's already angry with me. I don't want to cause him anymore problems." Bruce turns to look at a glaring Dick who has his arms crossed. "I'm going to tell him, Dick. Soon. I just need to have a word with Dr. Thompkins to see if she can help."

"You better hope so, Bruce. Because if you don't act fast, you won't just lose a Robin, you'll lose a _son_."

Damian continues looking at the X-Rays of his brain he has in his hands. He deleted the ones in the Batcave but still has copies of his own. He continues looking through them for anything suspicious. So far, he finds nothing wrong with his brain. It looks perfectly fine. Raven is not manipulating him as Bruce intends to suspect.

But he can tell his father is hiding something from him. Something he doesn't want him to see. How come he only found the X-Rays of his brain? His father has X-Rays of every Robin from every part of their bodies. X-Rays of their limbs, brains, stomach and heart. Bruce always makes them take monthly X-Rays and keeps them stored in the Batcave computer. But why did Damian only find the X-Rays of his brain? Where are the rest? What is it that the great Dark Knight hiding from him?

He doesn't like secrets being kept from him. He'll find out eventually, even if he needs help.

He opens up his laptop and starts sending a message to a certain friend: YOU THERE FATGIRL?

Damian waits for a couple of seconds before he finally gets a response.

WOULD YOU STOP CALLING ME FATGIRL? WHY CAN'T YOU JUST CALL ME STEPHANIE FOR ONCE?

Damian: FATGIRL. THERE I SAID IT. DEAL WITH IT.

Stephanie: WHAT DO YOU WANT, DAMIAN? I'M IN CLASS.

Damian: YOUR TEACHERS ARE REDUNDENT AND HAVE LOWER BRAIN CELLS THAN A COW…LISTEN, I NEED YOU TO DO ME A FAVOUR.

Stephanie: DOES IT INVOLVE HACKING INTO BATMAN'S COMPUTER?

Damian: YES.

Stephanie: HOW CAN I HELP, SHORTSTACK?

 **That's it for today, guys. What is Batman really hiding from Damian? Review down below and tell me what you think of this chapter and what you think Batman could be hiding from Damian.**


	7. Chapter 7: The Uninviting

Chapter 7: The Uninvited.

 **Me: What's different about Terra in my story is that she's both a combination of Terra from the comics and Terra from the TV series. In the comics, the original Terra was never really a hero since she willingly helped Deathstroke capture the Titans and they both had a very _disturbing_ sexual affair (the girl was freaking 15 for crying out loud) even though I should have seen this coming in the TV series. Yikes...Anyways, the original comic book Terra was very psychotic and very unstable, and she never liked Beast Boy at all. Her clone did though so for all the Beast Boy and Terra shipper fans out there, be lucky the clone likes him. As for Terra from the TV series, she is completely different. She was depicted as more insecure than the comic book counterpart and was manipulated the entire time by Slade unlike the comic book counterpart. In this particular story, I don't know if this might happen in _Teen Titans: The Judas Contract_ movie, but here, Terra actually kind of likes Beast Boy but is working for Deathstroke and his new partner by force when Brion is being threatened. If none of you know who Brion is, I suggest you look for his name Brion Markov. Terra is somewhat similar to the Terra in the comics but very different from the Terra in the TV series. She is very different from both of her counterparts and it's going to be very fun on how I write her down.**

* * *

Raven senses anger from a distance of her bedroom. Anger and frustration. It's familiar. She cannot concentrate on her meditation with those emotions overwhelming her. She gets up from her bed and dresses up in black shorts and a dark purple hoodie. She looks at the garbage can where her costume lies burned. What a waste. It took her weeks to make that suit. Now it's going to take forever to take forever to make a new one, one that does not catch on fire.

She limps out of her bedroom — her leg still healing itself — and follows the sense of emotions to the training room where she hears grunting and yelling. She recognizes the voice almost immediately. _Damian_. Once in the training room, she sees him fighting the hologram ninjas with his sword. He is swinging around the sword like a whip, slicing and dicing the holograms in half. He doesn't miss any of them as more are coming his way. Raven simply stands there, watching, with her back reclined against the wall and her arms crossed over her chest. She watches Damian grunting, yelling and panting as he strikes each hologram with his sword. She can sense that he's becoming exhausted but is relentless to stop.

"Are you okay?" Raven asks out loud, her voice echoing throughout the training room.

"I'm fine," he growls as he slices another hologram.

"You don't look fine," she says meekly with a hint of anxiety in her voice. "I'm guessing things didn't go well between you and Batman."

"I said I'm fine, Raven!" he snaps and continues killing the holograms.

 _No, you're not_ , Raven can sense something wrong in Damian. His heart is pounding too fast. She can hear it. He can pass out from exhaustion. Raven calmly walks over to the control panels and immediately turns off the holographic simulator and instantly earns a glare from Damian when his holographic opponents disappear.

"What was that for!?" he snaps at her, his teeth gritting viciously. Raven jumps back from the control panel with a startle. She didn't expect him to be so angry with her for simply shutting off the control panel. Luckily, the only thing keeping between her and Damian's wrath is the exact control panel.

"I'm sorry. I had to. You're not yourself, Damian. You're too angry," Raven stammers nervously, "You need to calm down."

Damian walks around the control panel and snatches her arm in his hand in a tight grip. "I said I'm _fine_!" he snaps louder.

Raven gasps at his sudden action. _Is he really going to hurt me?_ She stares at Damian fearfully, waiting for his next moment. His fingers are digging into her arm and it hurt. And he's awfully close more than her comfort zone can allow her. "…D-Damian?"

She remains looking at his eyes that glare through her. After a moment or so, his angry expression softens and he notices his tight grip on Raven's arm, his eyes widen in shock and quickly lets go before he can do any more damage.

"You bruise easily," he whispers to himself before backing away from her. He is aware that Raven's skin is very sensitive and very easy to bruise even if the grip isn't tight enough. Holding her arm in a slightly firm grip and she'll purple blotches in less than a minute. Damian knows it and knows better than to grab Raven like that. "I'm hurting you. What is the matter with me?"

He goes over to the other side of the training room to sit down on the bench, away from Raven.

Of course, Raven follows without care and sits down next to him. She watches him slouch and pinch the bridge of his nose. Raven unzips her hoodie to pull out her arm from the sleeve. She has a black top under the hoodie. She's not dumb enough to walk around the Tower with a hoodie and no shirt or a bra. She shows Damian her arm with the purple blotches decorated her pale skin. Damian looks at the bruises and his face turns red in shame.

The bruises on her arm then slowly fade away till her arm looks like untainted porcelain again. "They heal, Damian," she tells him, "I've been in worse situations before, like the beam crushing my leg. So it's no surprise I get bruised."

"Still, why did I just do that?" he asks himself and plants his face into his hands. Raven sighs before shoving her arm back in the sleeve and zipping up the hoodie again. She gently places her small hand on his shoulder.

"You were angry."

Damian immediately swats her hand away and glares at her straight in the eyes. "It shouldn't have been enough to hurt you."

"Damian, you didn't —."

"Yes, I did!" he snaps. "I hurt you, Raven! You saw the bruises."

"Yes, I did. But I —."

"But you what, Raven!? What!? Are you going to tell me that it's your fault too!?" Damian snaps. "You know that everything I did these days is my fault so stop being stupid about it and stop blaming it on yourself!"

Raven is now beginning to see a bit more clearly of what his anger is all about. Batman had come here to the Tower to talk to Damian. Batman had been trying very hard not to make Raven responsible for Damian's actions but everything he said to Damian made it sound like it was Raven's fault, not to mention that he also threatened Damian to take him back to Gotham which fueled his anger even more.

"You do things for me, even defend me from your father," she says.

"You've read my mind again, did you?"

"Expressing your emotions makes it harder not to read your mind," she explains. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be —." Damian let out a deep sigh before pinching the bridge of his nose and dropping on his knees.

"Damian? Damian, are you okay?"

"Just a headache."

"You've been under a lot of stress lately. Let me help."

Raven sits down next to him and gently places her hands on his temple. She asks him to take a few deep breaths which he does. Within minutes, Damian feels completely relaxed and the headache fades away. He sighs of relief and smiles at her. "Thanks," he says.

"No problem," she smiles back.

Damian's smile slowly disappears and gently brushes Raven's hair from her face. Damian isn't used to being around women. The only woman he has ever interacted was with his mother and he once felt uncomfortable when Dr. Langstrom's daughter embraced him. He felt it unnecessary. So it's normal for him to feel his guts twists and his pulse race. Still, he takes his chances and leans forward towards Raven.

"Hey guys!" Both Raven and Damian jump back at the sound of Garfield's voice. The green boy is already in the training room with a grin on his face. "Kori wants us in the Common Room in a minute. We're going to the park to stretch our legs. Um, was I interrupting something?"

"You're so dead," Damian said before jumping on his feet. Garfield makes a run for it and Damian chases his down, leaving Raven laughing in the training room.

Her laughter comes up short when she feels a pain in her chest. _What was that?_ She presses her hand to her chest and takes deep breaths. In a few moments, the chest pain is gone. _What was that?_

* * *

The Teen Titans head over to the park for some fresh air. They've been cooped up in the Tower all week long. Of course, Raven and Damian are not allowed to leave the park under any circumstances. They are still grounded, as Starfire said. Damian is still a bit ticked off with Starfire for telling Dick and Batman about he and Raven getting arrested. He barely talks to Starfire since it happened. Raven believes he's being unreasonable with his attitude. "She was worried. That's all," she said.

At the park, Jaime and Garfield are playing Frisbee. Jaime would throw the Frisbee and Garfield would change into a dog and chase after it. Victor brought a barbecue grill to make hamburgers and hot dogs. Damian is not really a big fan of junk food so he rejects the hamburgers and hot dogs. He'll regret that since he's already hungry but he can hold a little while longer. Kori is sitting under a tree, reading a fashion magazine. Damian doesn't understand why someone would be interested in reading articles about anorexic women that simply pose in pictures for publicity. It makes no sense to him. Some are possibly photoshopped which can be clearly noticed.

He and Raven are playing chess. So far, Damian is winning. Raven is usually the one who wins at chess so it's a bit frustrating for her that Damian is winning. But she lets it slide. It's just a game after all. As expected, Damian wins and Raven lies down on the grass, groaning in frustration. "What's the matter?" Damian chuckles teasingly, "Angry that you lost?"

"Nah, we just played four times in a row," Raven sighs but then chuckles, "I'll get you next time."

"Good luck," Damian scoffs as he lies down next to her on the grass.

They start looking at the clouds, finding different shapes. Damian finds one in the shape of an eagle. Raven finds one in the shape of a plane-. "Oh wait, that really is a plane," she giggles as the plane flies above them. Damian finds one in the shape of a bat. He frowns at it. Why does he have a feeling he's being watched by Batman again? Raven sighs when seeing the glaring look on Damian's face. She takes his hand in hers and his glare softens. "Let it go, Damian. Don't let it get to you. Let's try to enjoy the freedom we have right now, okay?" she says softly.

"I suppose you're right," he sighs. And they continue looking at the clouds.

* * *

Garfield chases after the Frisbee Jaime tossed once more. Jaime throws it with a bit more force this time and Garfield ends up chasing the Frisbee to the other side of the park. _Nice going, Jaime_. He sniffs around for the Frisbee but can't seem to find it anywhere. _Darn_.

Garfield morphs back into human form and looks around for the missing Frisbee. If only Jaime didn't throw it so far. He did it on purpose, he knew. He almost gets trampled by a group of jogging girls going down the patch he's standing in. He jumps back so he wouldn't be trampled. "Watch it, freak!" one of the girls shout at him angrily.

"Sorry!" Garfield calls back, waving at them, "Looking good, ladies!"

The girl that called him a freak sticks a middle finger at him without even turning around. Garfield winces at this but continues searching for the Frisbee all the same.

"Are you looking for this?"

Garfield immediately turns around to see the girl named Terra standing behind him. She is holding the red Frisbee Jaime tossed earlier. He smiles toothily at the blonde girl. "Hey, you found it," Garfield says and is about to grab the Frisbee from her hands but she draws it back from his reach and smirks at him.

"Are you following me?" Terra asks.

"Oh, no, I'm just here with my friends," Garfield says, "We're just here for fresh air, that's all."

Terra frowns and crosses her arms over her chest. "Fresh air? Really? That's the best you can do?"

"What? It's the truth. My friend is making hamburgers and hot dogs. I'm not going to eat them though. I'm a vegetarian," he says. "Do you want to join us? I can introduce you to the gang."

"The gang?" Terra arches her eyebrow at him. Garfield likes the girl. She's kind of cute. More than cute. Pretty. That's it. She's pretty. He huffs when Terra slams the Frisbee into his chest. Garfield takes the Frisbee back gratefully. He can see that the bruise on her face has cleared up. It hasn't cleared up much but it doesn't look as bad as before. "What are you? Some Scooby-Doo gang or something?"

"Yep," Garfield grins, "I'm basically the dog in the gang. Starfire would be Daphne. Raven is Velma. Cyborg is Freddie. And Jaime is Shaggy."

"What about the Robin kid?" Terra smirks.

"The ego-maniac Scrappy Doo," he says and they both burst into laughter. Garfield loves watching old cartoons, Scooby-Doo being one of them. He hates the new one though. The _Be Cool, Scooby-Doo_ show. It sucks so far. _What happened to the good shows these days?_ Their laughter cease and Garfield continues insisting. "But seriously, you should hang out with us. I mean, sure, Robin can be a bit of narcissist but he's a nice guy. In fact, everyone is."

"Thanks but I think I'll pass," she says.

"Oh, come on, please," Garfield nearly pleads. Terra doesn't respond. She crosses her arms again and taps her foot, frowning again. When she doesn't respond, Garfield morphs into a Pit-bull puppy and gives her the sad eyes while wagging his tail.

Terra then chuckles. "Fine. You win."

Garfield quickly morphs back into human form and shouts cheerfully "All right! Come on! You're going to love the guys!" He takes Terra by the hand and drags across the park liking a kid excited to open up presents on Christmas morning.

* * *

Little do the Titans know that they are being watched through the hacked satellite cameras. The two men watch the footage of the Mountain Lake Park in San Francisco, California. They both watch the blond girl being dragged across the park by the green boy.

"Are you sure this is the best way to have our spy approach the Titans?" one of the men ask.

"It is," said the other, "Remember, the Titans are still children and what better way of sending a spy to do our deed than her. Terra is a teenager, just like them. She'll fit right in and no one will suspect a thing, except for Robin."

"You are aware that Damian will suspect her," the first man says bitterly, "You are aware that he will not trust her. It's a risky move, Slade."

"Do not concern yourself," Slade says, "As you can tell, no one would believe. They may be heroes but they are still small-minded and naïve, all in exception of the dark girl."

"Raven," the man next to him says. He glares at the one screen where both Damian and Raven are lying on the grass next to each other, talking and holding hands. "That girl is a distraction to the boy. A nuisance to his true potential. He has softened too much to the point where even Talia al Ghul doubted he has any part of his assassin traits left. His emotions towards the girl make him look weaker."

"Which is why we need her alive," Slade says, "Raven is Damian's weakness and the best way to make the boy fall on his knees before us is exploiting that weakness."

"Do we kill her then to make the boy suffer?" the mask asks.

"Of course not. It will be too easy. And it will make it very boring. I'm hoping to make our plans a lot more interesting than what you had in mind."

"Tara Markov will betray us, Slade, and when she does it is you that will suffer the consequences of the betrayal," the man says as he continues watching the green boy dragging the blonde girl to the area where the Titans are.

"She will not betray, my friend," Slade says confidently, "Remember, we have her precious Brion on the line. His life depends on her and if she doesn't want him dead, she'll do as we tell her. Simple as that. The Titans for Brion. Do not worry. We'll have our revenge of the boy and you'll have the honours to kill him yourself. After all, it _is_ personal, no?"

"...Very."

* * *

"Hey, guys, I'd like you to meet Terra," Garfield exclaims as he returns to the picnic, dragging blonde-haired girl with him. Everyone simply stare at him, including Damian and Raven. They sat up when they heard Garfield shout. "She's the girl that helped us in the fire."

The group gasp in surprise. Damian simply rolls his eyes as if it weren't obvious enough. The short blonde hair and the blue eyes plus the same facial shape and body type. Just because she wears a mask, doesn't mean she's good at disguised herself. Even he knows that Kate Kane (aka. Batwoman) uses better disguises than this blonde chick. Only a fool wouldn't recognize her. Of course, now he feels he's surrounded by fools for not noticing the obvious. Even the Terra girl feel uncomfortable being stared at.

Finally, Kori is the first one to approach the girl and introduce herself as Kori Anderson. Damian simply scoffs at the way she introduces herself. She sounds like a robot. "His, I'm Kori. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Damian rolls his eyes once more, only to be elbowed in the ribcage by Raven. "Ow. What?"

"Be nice," she hisses at him before getting up, brushing off grass from her behind and heading over to greet the girl. Seeing how nice Raven looks dressed in black shorts and hoodie almost makes Damian forget the bad feeling he's been having towards the Terra girl. Of course, that feeling returns as soon as Raven and Terra shake hands. The warm welcoming smile Raven had on her pale face instantly fades as away as soon as their hands made contact. Damian can tell that she saw something in Terra just by the look on her face. Something not right. Raven smiles again though and continues shaking hands with Terra. It's a fake smile. "Hi, I'm Raven."

"Hi, I'm Terra. Nice to meet you." As soon as they let go of hands, Raven returns to sit beside Damian. She doesn't say a word to him. She simply takes out an apple from the picnic basket and bites into it.

"Everything okay?" Damian asks.

Raven nods but then shakes her head sideways. "Yes. No. Maybe. I don't know."

"Yes, no, maybe and I don't know is not really an answer, Raven," Damian frowns at her.

"It's just a feeling," Raven continues chewing before taking another bite at the apple, "I can be wrong sometimes. A feeling is just a feeling sometimes."

"You want to talk about it?"

"Not at the moment," Raven says while her eyes remain locked on the Terra girl. The other Titans shake hands with her and introduce themselves. Victor even offers Terra a hamburger which she kindly accepts. Damian doesn't like the feeling he's having right now. That gut feeling that something is wrong. First, she appears completely out of nowhere to help Raven out of the fire and then she appears again. And this time, Raven has that same feeling he's feeling right now. But Raven doesn't look suspicious about it. On the contrary, she seems frightened. Something really _is_ wrong.

* * *

 **Well, I hope you guys like this one. Don't worry, more of the Batfamily will appear in further chapters. Don't be afraid to follow or comment down below.**


	8. Chapter 8: Unknown

**Sorry about the late update guys, I was really busy with my original story on another website. But I'm back and this chapter is a bit too short than I planned to make so I hope you don't hate me for this. Lol. Anyway, here we are. Judas Contract Part...I forgot. Let's just get into it.**

* * *

They return to the Tower at noon. Everyone goes to take a shower. Damian decides to investigate more of this Terra girl. As for Raven, she returns to her bedroom the minute they arrived back home. She basically bolted back to her bedroom as if she were in a hurry. Damian wanted to see if she's okay but she locked the door and over the last five minutes, all he heard was her vomiting. He is now worried about her. She's been that way ever since she met that Terra girl. He knows that something is not right about her. He can feel it. Even Raven felt it.

He returns to his room and opens up his laptop. He sends another message to Stephanie:

 **DAMIAN** : ARE YOU THERE?

 **STEPHANIE** : YES.

 **DAMIAN** : DID YOU MANAGE TO GET INTO THE BATCAVE'S COMPUTER?

 **STEPHANIE** : NOT YET. I'M ON MY WAY.

 **DAMIAN** : HURRY UP THEN. I HAVE ANOTHER JOB FOR YOU TO DO.

STEPHANIE: ONE THING AT A TIME, SHORTSTACK. I'M NOT THE FLASH.

 **DAMIAN** : OBVIOUSLY. BUT IT'S IMPORTANT.

 **STEPHANIE** : JUST LET ME GET THAT DRIVE THING YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT AND MAYBE I CAN DO THE REST. IF I DON'T GET THROUGH THE CODES, I'M SENDING IT OVER TO ORACLE. SHE'S THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN PROBABLY BREAK THROUGH.

 **DAMIAN** : ALL RIGHT THEN. ONCE YOU'RE FINISHED, I NEED TO LOOK FOR INFORMATION ON A GIRL NAMED TERRA.

 **STEPHANIE** : WHO'S TERRA?

 **DAMIAN** : I'LL EXPLAIN LATER. JUST FINISH THE FIRST TASK, BROWN.

 **STEPHANIE** : FINE.

Damian snaps the laptop shut when he hears laughter outside the Tower. He recognizes the laughter to be Garfield but the other laughter belongs to someone else. His eyes widen when he also recognizes the laughter. He looks out the window of his room to see Garfield sitting at the rocks...and with Terra. _What is she doing here?_ Damian narrows his eyes in suspicion and crosses his arms. _Why is she here?_

* * *

"Hey, Barbara, you there?"

Stephanie can hear Barbara yawning on the other side of the line. She must have been sleeping. _"Yeah, I'm here,"_ Barbara yawns loudly through the phone. _"What is it?"_

"Listen, I need you to do me a favour if you can," Stephanie says.

 _"Can you give me at least half-an-hour? I've had a long night."_ Barbara groans as she struggles in her bed. Since she can't use her legs, it's difficult for her to sit up. She always has to use her arms to push herself up.

Stephanie then hears another yawning sound in the background, one not belonging to Barbara. It's the yawning of a man. Stephanie giggles. "I can tell. Who's there in the background?"

 _"Um, no one,"_ Barbara says nervously.

But Stephanie can hear the man in the background. _"Hey, Barbie, I'm going to take a shower. You want me to make breakfast?"_

Stephanie's eyes widen when she recognizes the voice and the nickname. "Holy cow, Barbs, is that Jason in the background?"

 _"Um, no? Maybe?"_

Stephanie couldn't believe what Barbara is telling her. "You and Jason are dating? Holy crap, does Dick know about this? Or Bruce?"

 _"No!"_ Barbara snaps, _"I already heard what happened with Damian at Titans Tower over there so I rather not let Dick or Bruce know, at least not yet. So you better not jabber this to them."_

"Okay, no one says jabber anymore but I promise I won't say anything," Stephanie promises with a raised hand.

 _"So, what do you need?"_ Barbara asks, sounding fully awake now.

"Well, Damian wanted me to look through a few restricted files Batman kept hidden in a drive, something about some X-Rays," he says, "But I can't break through the codes. Do you think you can do that for and find out what those X-Rays have that Damian thinks is important?"

 _"Sure, no problem. Bruce is going to kill you if he finds out though,"_ Barbara says, _"But wait, why can't you do it?"_

"I've been detained," Stephanie says. Her other hand is handcuffed to the Batcave's chair and Alfred is standing behind her pointing a shotgun at the back of her head. So much for keeping a low profile.

* * *

Damian approaches both Garfield and Terra at the rocky shore outside Titans Tower. They are both talking and laughing like school kids. Damian simply rolls his eyes in irritation and crosses his arms.

"What is she doing here?" he asks.

Garfield and Terra look up at Damian in surprise. Garfield grins and chuckles nervously. "Um, we were just talking. We weren't doing anything bad, if that's what you're thinking."

"I meant, what is she doing at Titans Tower," Damian says, "I don't remember Kori allowing trespassers in the Tower."

"Well, for _your_ information, Damian, Kori _does_ allow visitors at the Tower so don't be so stuck up about it," Garfield says, standing up and crossing his arms while glaring at Damian, looking like he's trying to intimidate Damian. It doesn't work though. Damian is not so easily intimidated. "Also, she's joining the team."

Damian's eyes widen in surprise but the frown still remains. "Joining the team? Garfield, are you being serious? We know nothing about her. No background. No history. We don't even know her real name or where she came from?"

"Kori said that we should always welcome people in need even if we don't know anything about them," Garfield argues.

"Yes, but that doesn't mean you can bring every single person at random," Damian says, "Do you even know the purpose of her need? Her skills? Do you even know her real name?"

"Listen," Terra is now the one to speak up, "I don't want you guys to get into a fight or something so I'll just be brief. I'm a runaway. I don't have a home. I live in some jacked up empty house. I'm geokinetic. And my name is Tara Markov. There. Are you happy now?"

"That's not the point," Damian continues on, earning an eye roll from Garfield.

"Look, Damian, I respect that you and Raven have a thing so why don't you respect the choices of others?" Garfield asks.

"I -."

"I'm going to talk to Kori, she's the one that makes the decisions around here, not you," Garfield says and takes Terra by the hand before leaving the shore.

Damian simply remains glaring at them both as they leave.

Damian and Garfield have always been ticking each other off every once in awhile. It's not that Damian doesn't get along with Garfield but Damian simply can't stand his stupidity. Garfield can sometimes be naive and blind but never has it been like this. Damian feels like he and Raven are the only ones that can see that something is not right about this girl and Garfield doesn't seem to see or doesn't want to. And it's aggravating for Damian to try to get him to understand. The girl may have given the basics. Right now, all Damian knows is that her real name is Tara Markov (and who knows if that's her real name) and has geokinesis. But knows nothing about her history, her family, her mental capacity or why she ran away from home.

The only person that can help him figure it out is Raven. But Raven doesn't seem to be in a festive mood at the moment. He can see her through the window. She's curled up in her bed, probably asleep, but also shaking. Damian knows that Raven sensed something off about this Tara Markov and that something made her nausea and vomit...a lot. And it's concerning for him. If he couldn't get Raven to do it, he got Stephanie Brown/Batgirl to do the favour of looking for Tara Markov's history for him.

A small rustling sound is heard from the trees in Kori's garden. Damian's attention snap to that direction, only to find it empty. It could have just a squirrel. There are always squirrels trying to eat the flowers Kori plants. Then why does he have the feeling of being watched or the feeling that someone was watching them?

* * *

 **End of Chapter 8**

 **I might take awhile with the next chapter but don't worry. It will be updated.**


	9. Chapter 9: Recruiting

****Sorry about the late post, guys, it's been a rocky road these days with homework and then my other stories. But here's the next chapter. I hope you guys like it and not kill me for being late.****

* * *

Raven lies on her bed curled up in a fetal position and her stomach turning angrily. She feels sick. After her introduction with Terra, she hasn't been feeling the same. She feels like she's about to throw up. She did throw up a couples of times in the bathroom but feels like she's about to throw up again. She knows that something is wrong. She doesn't what exactly but knows that something isn't right about Terra. Even Damian knows.

She instantly hears a knock outside her bedroom.

"Go away!" she snaps.

"It's me," Damian answers. She doesn't want to see him. She doesn't want to see anyone actually, not like this.

"I'm trying to rest, Damian," Raven says viciously, hoping to get him to leave her be.

"We need to talk," he says.

"Can't we talk later?" she asks.

"No, now. It's really important," he says, "...Please."

Raven groans annoyingly in her bed. "Fine."

Raven uses her telekinesis to open the door. The door slides open and Damian steps into the bedroom.

He looks worriedly at Raven. She's curled up in her bed, looking paler than she usually is and dark grey bags under her eyes. She looks like she hasn't slept in days. "Are you okay?" He asks as he sits down on the edge of her bed.

Raven nods. "I just feel tired. Drained. I really need the rest."

Damian frowns. "You saw something, Raven. Something bad. I know you did," he states.

"It's just a vision. Not all things can be true," she says.

"But it seems like there's more truth to the vision than simply just _visions_ ," Damian says, "You saw something in Terra. Something you didn't like. Whatever it is, you can tell me."

"It's nothing really," she says but Damian can tell that she's lying. Garfield is going to try to have Terra join the Titans but knows that there's nothing right about her. Damian tried to warn Garfield not to try to recruit Terra without looking her up. But if Garfield doesn't listen to him, maybe he might listen to Raven. She knows more about this than anyone else.

"Raven, Garfield is trying to convince Kori to let Terra join the Titans," he tells her. Raven's eyes widen at the information. Damian can see it as fear. "So if you have anything to tell me about Terra, I think it's better if you say it before it's too late."

"... I saw two men," she says, "I couldn't see their faces but they were tall. I saw computer screens but the room was too dark. Then I saw a boy, probably Victor's age, in a capsule. He was frozen. I don't know who they are but for some reason..."

"What?" Damian asks, "For some reason what?"

"I think they know you," she says. Damian frowns at her words. "They know you. Somehow they know you. They know that you're Damian Wayne. And they know that you're Robin. I think Terra knows it too. How? How is that even possible?" She asks herself, her brow furrowing in confusion.

"You tell me. I don't know either," he says, "Do you think Terra is sent here to spy on us?"

"I think she's here to spy on all if us," she whispers, "Damian, I have a bad feeling about this. I feel like something bad might happen if Kori let's Terra join the team. I think we better tell Kori before anything else happens."

Damian nods in agreement.

* * *

Both Raven and Damian head over to the common room where they expect to find Kori, Victor, Jaime or Garfield with that blonde girl. But they are nowhere to be seen. "Where are they?" Raven asks, looking at Damian worriedly.

They suddenly hear crashing sounds and blasting coming from the training room down below. They even feel the floor under their feet shake. Giving each other brief glances, Raven and Damian bolt to the elevator and Damian presses the button to head to the floor below.

Once down at the training room, they see the rest of the team watching in awe as large rocks are hovering in the air crashing at the targets on the ground. Raven sees Terra standing on top of a floating boulder which she uses to fly around the training room like a surfer. Raven's hand nearly flies up in attempt to throw Terra off the boulder but immediately retracted her hand. She knows that Garfield will never forgive her if Terra is thrown off the boulder and he finds out it was her. Her hands remain shaking though. Damian notices this and holds it in his to calm her down.

They both hear Kori and Victor talking about how good Terra is doing.

"What do you think?" Victor asks, "Should we recruit her?"

"I don't know, Vic." Damian smiles when he realizes that Kori is being considerate about her decision of recruiting Terra. "She's good but we don't know much about her. Ii mean, where are her parents? Does she have a home?"

"I think the reason why she came here is because she doesn't have a home," Victor suggests.

Raven hears this. She remembers not having a home when she first arrived to Earth. No food. No home. No family. She was alone. She had nobody, until she met the Titans. They found her and they took her in without questioning her. They didn't know about her being the daughter of the demon Trigon and even after the attacks her brothers committed, they didn't care. They didn't kick her out like most people would. They still want her around despite what she is or what her father nearly did. _Maybe I'm looking things the wrong way_.

Damian's attention is diverted when he feels Raven squeezes his hand. He looks at her. She has a pitiful expression on her face, her eyes nearly watering. "What?"

"Can I talk to you for a second?" she asks. Damian stares at her strangely but nods in agreement and follows her to a dark corner."Maybe we shouldn't have Kori kick her out."

Damian frowns at her. "What are you talking about? This was _your_ idea. You wanted to warn Kori about Terra. What happened to that _bad feeling_ you were having earlier?"

"I still have a bad feeling, Damian," she says, leaning back against the wall, "but what if I'm wrong? What if she's not a spy? What if she's actually running away from the people that she was with? What if she's actually here because she doesn't have anywhere else to go?"

"Please don't tell me you're getting bipolar -."

"Damian, this is serious," she says, "I think we should give Terra a chance. And no, I don't mean we should forget what we talked about. What I mean is that maybe if we get Terra to tell us what's really going on, we might know the truth about who she is or who those guys are. Instead of seeing her as danger, we should see her as an opportunity."

Damian groans. "You really are bipolar, aren't you?"

"Please, Damian. Just trust me okay?" she begs, "If I'm wrong, you can be mad at me as much as you want -."

"I'm not angry -."

"I'm an empath and you're angry," she reminds him. She can sense his emotions boiling through him like hot water. She knows that Damian is getting ticked off with her for deciding to give Terra a second chance instead of listening to him. She knows she'll regret disagreeing with Damian but it might be far worse if she disagreed with her friends and peers. "Trust me, Damian, please."

"...One chance," he hisses, "If I see anything I don't like about her, we're telling Kori. Do you understand?"

Raven nods in agreement. "Yes."

She attempts to hug him but knowing that he's not in the best mood, she decides not to. She lets him walk away from her. She feels that sharp pain in her chest again and hisses. It was a small pain but felt it like a needle. She has never experienced this pain before nor does she know where it's coming from.

After watching Terra flying around on a boulder and destroying things with rocks, the possibilities of Kori and Victor recruiting Terra are grand. And Raven and Damian can't do anything but stay put and keep their eyes open for anything suspicious.

* * *

"Hey, Barbie," Jason sits down on the couch next to Barbara and plants a kiss on her cheek. "Finished making breakfast," he says as he puts a plate of waffles on the table with berries on top.

"Aww, you're the best," Barbara kisses him in return before putting her attention back in the computer, trying to decode the files Stephanie sent to her after she got caught by Alfred.

Jason sat closer to her and draped his arm around her shoulder. "So, what are you up to this time?"

"Batgirl sent me these files she stole from the Batcave and wants me to decode it since they're very encrypted lock," she informs him. Jason frowns at her.

"Batgirl stole it from the Batcave? _The_ Batcave, as in Batman's Batcave?" he asks.

"How many Batcaves does Bruce have, Jason?" That was a rhetorical question, "Besides, it's nothing serious. Stephanie just wants me to decode the files containing X-Rays of the Batfamily."

Jason sighs at this. Even if he's no longer Robin or a hero, Bruce still insists on him to visit the Batcave for the monthly X-Rays to check if their bodies are in good health. To Jason, it's getting annoying really fast. "Including ours? Seriously, sometimes Bruce can be a creep when it comes to invading people's lives. You've been at the computer for an hour and a half. Take a break, Barbie."

"And I will take a break as soon as I'm done cracking the code here. Promise," she says as her fingers continue to drum over the keyboards.

"Breakfast's gonna get cold. I'm just saying," he sighs.

"Could you put them in the microwave then, please?"

"Fine." Jason kisses her head before getting up and taking her plate away to the kitchen. "Anyone specific in the X-Rays?"

"I think it might be Damian," she says.

"How would you know that Batgirl wants you to check on Damian's X-Rays?"

"Because she told me, dummy," she chuckles. "Apparently Bruce's been hiding these X-Rays from Damian and he wants to know why. And I think I finally cracked the code. Now all that's left is to check what the fuss is about."

Jason then jokes around about maybe an X-Ray of his brain being too big for Damian's skull and would explode in any second. Jason doesn't have anything against Damian. He actually likes the kid. Jason simply likes to bother him, he calls him the Oompa Loompa, a pet name Damian deeply despises. He once gave Damian a noogie and Damian was getting ready to pulverize Jason for that. Of course, Damian didn't take it too personally.

He puts the plates of waffles in the microwave where it would be heated up later after Barbara finishes work.

"Hey, Barbie, maybe after work you and I can go to the movies. _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_ is up and they say that it's good but I want to see it for myself to be sure of it." He returns to the living room.

Barbara has her face buried in her hands and her glasses lay next to her with sniffling noises being heard from her. Jason realizes that she's crying and runs to her side. "Hey, hey, hey. What's wrong? Barbara?"

Barbara doesn't answer. Instead, she proceeds to sob in Jason's shoulder. Eyes widening in confusion, Jason holds her in his arms.

He then looks at the computer screen and his heart skips a bit. "Son of a..." he mutters. He lets go of Barbara and gets up again. "I'm going to kill Bruce. I'll kill him myself!" he yells and quickly leaves the apartment.

"Jason!" Barbara calls after him but he's already gone. She hopes that he doesn't really intend to kill Bruce.

* * *

"Terra has finally infiltrated the Titans Tower," Slade informs his partner who's been glaring at the computer screens for over an hour, watching Terra exposing her abilities to the Titans, the green boy congratulating her, the red-haired and the cyborg talking to each other about recruiting her or not, and then the Robin boy and the demon girl heading to a dark corner doing God-knows-what. "She will help us get everything we need and then we'll strike."

"I thought our plan was to destroy the boy, and yet your plan is to destroy the team entirely, not just him," his partner says.

"The Titans are his family now and the girl is his heart," Slade says as he walks to the computer screen, "Destroying the rest wouldn't mean much to him but his heart would be destroy him."

"We kill Raven and then the rest before killing the boy?"

"No," Slade shakes his head, "We destroy the team and we kill Raven in front of the boy to crush him completely. _Then_ we'll kill him. I will then drive a sword through his eye just as he did to me. Be patient, friend, we shall have our revenge on the boy soon enough."

"Very well. And for the record, Deathstroke, I am not your friend and you're no friend of mine."

* * *

 **Thanks for being so patient with me guys. Yeah, I know that some of you weren't patient. But thanks for waiting anyways.**

 **I hope you liked it. Let me know in the comments what you thought of the chapter.**


	10. Coming Soon

**Hey guys, sorry for not updating these days. Thanks to finals and school projects, I haven't been able to write the next chapter to this fanfiction. And college has been a bitch to me these days. But I promise I'll be writing the next chapters after my final exam and be updating soon. I hope you guys understand since some are in school just like me. So cross your fingers. Let me know if you have any questions of the next chapters. If you do, let me know in the comments and I'll answer momentarily.**


	11. Chapter 10: Rock Bottom

**Sorry for the late update, guys. Here's the next chapter to Judas Contract.**

* * *

Slade's partner is looking at photos of the Titans that were sent through fax, in the shadows even in red light, most pictures of the Titans having a good time at places like at the beach, the park and the fair. There is very little photos of Damian with his team since the boy has only been with the Titans for over a few months. And most of the photos he found are of Damian with the Raven girl, and occasionally with Jaime Reyes and Garfield Logan. It impresses him how infatuated Damian Wayne is with the girl black-haired girl. Damian is seen smiling in the photos with her and there are photos where it shows the boy bothering her, sometimes wrestling her to the ground.

A tear threatens to escaped the man's eye but immediately brushes it away. He is envious of Damian's happiness, wondering why _he_ couldn't have that same happiness when he was brought to this world. Damian has even found love even if he denied it so many times to his teammates. Even the Raven girl agreed with him. They claim to be simply friends. But the man new the truth; he knows that Damian is trying to hide his true feelings for her from everyone but he cannot hide them from her. This girl pretends to not notice but she does and tries to persuade him every chance she has and the boy simply plays along with it, following her like a dog. _You are weak, Damian_. He believes the boy to be weak and yet he is still becoming stronger every day despite of his feelings for the girl and it is something the man despises most. A weakness is supposed to make the opponent weaker, not stronger. He knew that the only way to destroy Damian is through Raven.

"I'm going to make you suffer this time, boy, and I will take everything you care for, starting with _her_ ," the man hisses darkly while poking at the black-haired girl in one of the picture.

* * *

Terra is sitting on the couch upside down, listening to rock music through her earphones and humming to herself. The rest of the Titans were having a meeting, debating on whether Terra should be part of the team or not. Raven did not join the meeting. She remains locked in her bedroom like always. Terra thinks they don't need her for the debate. It is a decision only either Starfire or Cyborg could make. She knows that Starfire and Beast Boy are eager to have her on the team. Cyborg and Blue Beetle have mixed feelings about it but Raven and Robin are the only two that don't seem to be pleased about her joining the team. Their vote is not valid however, especially Robin's.

Terra opens her eyes at the feeling of someone watching her and finds Damian Wayne/Robin standing in front of her with arms crossed and glaring down at her.

"Oh hi," she says, smiling. "You must be Robin."

"How much do you know about me?" Damian asks.

"Well, you work for the Batman so that's all I know," she says.

"You may have fooled everyone else, including Raven, but you're not fooling me," Damian confronts her.

"And how exactly am I fooling everyone?" Terra asks, giving Damian an expression as if she doesn't know what he's talking about.

"What are you really here for, Terra?"

Terra smirks mischievously as she sat down on the couch normally and tilts her head to the side. "What do you think I'm here for?" She chuckles. "You actually think I'm here to hurt you and your little family?"

"Well, you don't look too trustworthy," Damian says, "We all just met you today. We don't know your real name."

"I don't have to give you my real name, you know," she says, "I never asked for yours. I never asked for anyone's names, not even Raven's. I respect your privacy. Why can't you respect mine?"

"I don't trust you," Damian says, his eyes narrowing, "You appear out of nowhere for less than a few hours and now you want to be part of the team. That's not how it works around here, Terra. You have to actually work hard for it and earn it."

Terra scoffs. "Beast Boy seems to trust me just fine."

"Tt. It's not like I didn't expect for this to happen," Damian says sternly, "Trust me, I did. As soon as Garfield introduced you to the Titans, I knew he wasn't thinking straight and only had eyes on how alluring you look."

"Aw, you really think I'm alluring, or whatever that means," Terra smirks playfully, "You better be careful, Robin. Beast Boy might get jealous if he sees you calling me alluring. And what would Raven think of this?"

"Tt, what's the matter with you? You think this is all a game to you? What are you playing at, _Terra_ , if that's your real name," Damian questions her.

"It _is_ , hot-head, it's just written differently. I changed my name so no one would find me. You're a smart kid, Robin," Terra sneers as she turns to walk back to the elevator, "You should know what it's like to have a bad family, to be experimented on as a weapon and then be casted out as a bastard at the end when things don't turn out how they wanted. Why don't you figure it out for yourself?" She then leaves the common room, leaving Damian dumbfounded.

 _Made into a weapon_. _Casted out as a bastard at the end when things don't turn out how they wanted_. Thinking about this, it reminds Damian of how his mother Talia casted him out as a bastard when he sided with his father instead of leaving with her and the League of Assassins and to join her plan of controlling a number of world leaders through brainwashing by the Mad Hatter during the tech summit. _So yes, Damian knew what it's like. A dirty trick she played_ (mostly referring to Terra). Damian was actually disappointed on how his mother used him like toys. As much as he loved his mother, if he ever saw her alive again, he would punch her in the face for all the lies she made him believe. But it doesn't explain why Terra was saying all those things to Damian. _First Raven and now me_. _What sort of psychological mind-trick is this?_ _How did she know where to hit me?_

Damian hisses as he feels the sharp pain in his chest again. He grunts as it gets even worse. He takes deep breaths and pounds at his chest for a minute and waits for the pain to go away. And it does. Damian is left breathing heavily afterwards. _What was that?_

* * *

Damian heads for the kitchen for smuggle something to eat. He knows that eating before lunch will spoil his appetite but he's feeling moody today after the team finally accepted her in the team and he didn't have a say in it whatsoever and where was Raven? Outside Titans Tower and doing nothing about it. So he decides to take his anger out on a bowl of ice cream and a few pain killers for his chest pain. He decides to snatch Garfield's Tootie Frootie Tofu Ice Cream since they are all out of vanilla. _This sucks_.

Of course, eating the ice-cream is a bad idea. It tastes horrible and Damian ends up putting it back in the fridge as soon as he spat it out. _Gross_. _So much for putting the pain killer down with ice-cream_. _I guess water will have to do_. He takes out a pitcher of water and fills up a glass of water before taking the pills. _This should help with the pain_.

Once putting the pitcher back in the fridge, he takes out his cellphone and dials Alfred's phone number. He's always surprised that Alfred even has a cellphone since he's old and always prefers keeping things classy. Alfred is full of surprises though.

" _Master Damian? Is everything all right?_ " Alfred's voice finally speaks up through the phone.

"Where's father?" Damian asks.

" _Attending business, Master Wayne. Apparently, Miss Brown broke into the Batcave and hacked into the computer. She has been detained for the time being. Do you know anything about this?_ "

Damian gulps at the mention of Stephanie being detained. She got caught by Alfred. Damian hopes she was able to send the files to Oracle before getting detained. He needs to know what's in those X-Rays. But he doesn't want Alfred to know that he sent Stephanie to hack into the Batcave. "I'm just as surprised as you are, Pennyworth. Is she still in Wayne Manor?"

" _She's still in the Batcave as I left her_."

"I need advice," Damian continues talking, "It's about Raven."

" _I'm guessing she's the girl you fancy so much_ ," Alfred says and Damian's cheeks turn red. _I don't **fancy** her_. But even Damian has a hard time believing that. Every time he calls Alfred or Dick, it always has to do with Raven or how to be a good Robin. Mostly about Raven. He always denies it, however. " _What about her?_ "

"I'm worried about her," Damian informs him, "She knows that something is not right with the new recruit and yet she refused to tell Starfire when we both agreed on it."

" _Perhaps she is afraid of the new recruit, Master Damian_ ," Alfred says. Alfred doesn't know anything about Terra and Damian would rather not mention her to Alfred, instead refers her as _recruit_.

Damian scoffs. "More like sympathy than fear. I fear that Raven is trying to be the Good Samaritan and save someone we don't know if she's just playing with us or not. Raven saw something in the new recruit's mind but still refuses to talk about it. She already said it to me but won't talk to Starfire about it."

"Forgive me for not giving you the advice you want to hear but wouldn't it be best if you actually listen to what Miss Raven says. To take heed of her intentions. Perhaps she knows what she is doing."

"But what if she's wrong?"

" _If she is wrong, Master Damian, you know exactly what to do. If you believe the new recruit may be a threat to the team, I don't see why you need permission from Raven, unless you'll feel like you're betraying her_."

Damian sighs. "That's exactly what I'm afraid of." Raven is the only friend he feels he has. He and Jaime don't hang out much and he finds Beast Boy to be nauseating to be around with. It's not that Garfield is a nasty person to be around with. On the contrary, Garfield is the nicest guy you'll ever meet. But his jokes are always unfunny and insufferable. It makes Damian wish he was deaf.

" _Hmm. Interesting. I never thought I'd see the day that Damian Wayne would be concerned breaking someone's trust. Master Damian, forgive me for saying this but it almost sounds like you're in love with Raven_."

"That's absurd, Alfred," Damian scoffs. "She's my friend. That's all."

" _Now I know you're lying to me whenever you're using my first name_."

 _Crap_.

"Okay, let's just say I do like her but I also want to keep her from making a mistake that can risk the entire team, what do I do about it?" Damian asks while leaning back against the fridge door.

" _If you wish to do both, talk to her, Master Damian. Convince her_ ," Alfred advices, " _Do something nice for her. Do you want to know how I earned a woman's heart?_ "

"I wasn't even sure you even knew about women, Pennyworth," Damian smirks mockingly.

" _Very funny, Master Damian. I am amused on the inside_ ," Alfred says sarcastically, " _As I was saying, the way to pursue a woman's heart is through communication. Be honest with her. Tell her what you're worried about_."

"And how do I do that? I try talking to her but she won't talk to me. She won't talk to anyone, actually," Damian says. He walked towards the big windows to see Raven sitting on the edge of the rocky shore, playing with a Rubik's cube. He then turns away when he sees Raven turn around. "She's just sitting there, playing a cube."

"Give her time. When she comes to, then you may speak to her. Just give her time to rethink things over. That's another way to win a woman's heart -."

Damian stops listening when he hears Raven cry out. His heart jumps from the sudden yell. "I have to call you back." He hangs up the phone and runs to the elevator.

* * *

"Hey, it's Raven right?"

Raven looks up from the Rubik's cube she's been playing with on the rocky shore of the beach, her feet nearly touching the incoming ocean waves, and sees Terra standing behind her. Raven nearly drops the Rubik's cube into the water but catches it. She looks over her shoulder to look at Terra and her body freezes over, the visions she saw in the blonde girl's head flying back.

"Um, yeah, I'm Raven," she says meekly, "Terra, is it? How did it go? Did they finally make a decision?"

"So far, they're still debating about it," Terra says, "until then, they're letting me stay at the Tower since I have nowhere else to go."

"I'm guessing you don't have any family here in the U.S. that can take care of you," Raven suggests. As much as she pities her, she doesn't want Terra to stay. She's scared of her.

"My parents were from Germany so no, I don't have anywhere else to go," Terra explains, "No grandparents. No aunts. No uncles. You know the basics."

What's strange is that there's no sadness in her voice. She sounds almost too confident and careless. It's like she doesn't even miss them. And Raven can't sense any grief from her or any type of emotion which makes it even scarier.

"Well, you're welcome to stay anytime you want," Raven says while slipping on her boots and standing up from the rocks, "The Titans welcome anyone in need, you know."

"Thanks. At least some are more welcoming than others," Terra says as she approaches Raven with her hands on her hips. Raven almost takes a step back but remains her ground. "Your boyfriend doesn't seem to like me very much."

"Oh, um, Robin is not really my boyfriend," Raven stutters as she tries to explain it to her, "He's just a good friend."

"Oh please, I can see the way he looks at you," Terra chuckles, "He likes you."

"Um, can we not talk about this? It makes me uncomfortable," Raven says.

"Suit yourself," Terra shrugs her shoulders. "So, what can you do? I hear that you're some kind of witch. The question is, what kind of witch?"

"I'm actually part demon so I'm not really a witch," Raven says, "Well, I do have magical powers so it technically makes me a witch but I'm not actually a witch, you know. Oh my God, so this is what happens when you talk to Felicity Smoak for five minutes."

"Who the heck is Felicity Smoak?" Terra frowns at the name.

"Some IT expert who helped us out a couple of weeks ago with a robbery," Raven says, "She works for the Green Arrow in Starling City. She babbles a lot but she's smart and I think her babbling is sticking to me."

"So, what can you do?" Terra asks again.

"Um, telekinesis, teleportation, telepathy -."

"T T T. The three T's," Terra laughs, "Anything else?"

"It's complicated and would take a long list to mention the things I can do," Raven sighs. It would be a long list but it's just that Raven doesn't like giving her personal information to strangers, even if they _are_ metahumans like her.

"So, if you're telekinetic, that means you can move rocks too?" Terra asks.

 _That's a redundant question_. "Um, yeah. I can move rocks too. That's actually the obvious part of telekinetic."

Terra smiles cockily. "Do you think you can show me that?"

"Right now?"

"Yeah, I mean we have all the time in the world. Besides, if we're going to be teammates, we need to get to know each other, don't you agree?"

Raven frowns at Terra's words. She can't read any emotions coming from Terra. It's suspicious. "I think I should go back to the Tower. Jaime has me stuck on Spanish and won't stop pestering me until I say _elefante_ correctly."

Raven walks past Terra as she heads back to the Tower, not wanting to spend another minute near her. It's making her uneasy. She can't read her thoughts anymore nor can she read emotions from her. It's like Terra is blocking her, like she knows that Raven is trying to read her mind.

"How about I show you _my_ powers?"

Raven turns around to look at Terra and a rock strikes her head, knocking her down to the rocky ground. She cries out in pain. She curls up in a ball, her hand pressed to the side of her head and feeling blood wetting her palm. She lets out an agonizing sob. She looks at her bloody hand and the gem wedged between her index and middle finger, her vision becoming doubled and blurry. _Oh my God_.

"Raven, I'm so sorry." She hears Terra (or more like Terras) and sees her kneeling next to her. Terra said she's _sorry_ but Raven can see a smirk on her face. _Why?_ Raven tries to speak but the blow in her head is ruining her speech. "Don't worry. I'll help you," Terra said this while grabbing another rock.

"Raven!"

She hears Damian yell. She can't see him well because it's all blurry but she can hear him and he sounds scared and upset. Raven is actually glad to sense emotions from him. He's actually scared and worried for her.

"Get away from her!" Damian yells angrily as he pushes Terra away from her. He arrived just in time to stop Terra from giving her another blow in the head that might possibly kill her.

Terra lands on the ground and glares up at Damian, her eyes glowing yellow in anger. Damian glares at her in return before going back to Raven's side and holding her in his arms. Raven is still conscious but she looks dazed and is shaking fiercely from the shock.

Damian gives Terra a venomous glare. "You. What did you do to her!? What did you do to Raven!?"

* * *

 **Okay, so this chapter may be a bit short but I hope it's okay for you guys. Until the next chapter.**

 **Comment and tell me what you think of this chapter.**

 **Remember, I'm being a bit slow because of the holidays and also because I'm trying to finish up _Black Smoak_ which is really important for me to finish first or else I'll get stuck and not finish any of my fanfictions so sorry if the chapters to _Judas Contract_ and other fanfictions are being delayed.**


	12. Announcement

**I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE! Wait, why am I screaming?**

 **Like I was saying, I have an announcement to make.**

 **Since _Black Smoak_ is almost to an end, I have a few things to say. First of all, I would love to thank my followers for loving my stories (even with the ones are not finished yet - sorry by the way), it means a lot to me. And despite 2016 being a bit of a bad year, I'm always glad to be here whenever I can, not just to write but to read your fanfics, and a lot of your fanfictions are awesome. **

**The second thing I need to announce is that I will be changing my username. I will no longer using Verdant20. I'll be using a username either the name DCUnited or DCFanfics because most of the fanfics are from the DC Universe.**

 **Most of the DC stories I'll be writing will be mostly from _Arrow_ , _The Flash_ , _Birds of Prey_ , _Teen Titans_ , _Batman_ and possibly _Legends of Tomorrow_. If there are other shows and movies I can write (that don't have to do with the DC Universe) I will do it. But so far I have limited myself to the DC Universe since they were part of my childhood for a long time. **

**To all of my followers and reviewers, QueenCanarrowDeathstroke, Whitemiko12, Psycho17, GunjiBunny, bookwormbored, mjf2468, FlatWeasel, SylviaCassieSage, ABitOfEverything23, .d, kindleflame5, Callistoisis, Bella Teller, Purple Rose of Darkness, Reaper2908, Xx-CoolFireSkyler-xX, etc. And _everyone_ else really. You guys rule. You guys are awesome and I love you all. **

**I hope you guys get to have a good year.**


	13. Chapter 11: Truth and Lies

**Sorry for the delay on Judas Contract. Enjoy**

* * *

"I'm going to kill you!" Damian shouts as he advances towards Terra, taking out the sword.

Terra shoots up a rocky wall in front of him to keep a barrier between her and Damian but he jumps over it and grabs her by the collar.

"You'll pay for this!" he snarls at her.

Kori comes flying in just in time to separate the two The others come in as well. "Enough!" Garfield stands in front of Terra to keep Damian from attacking her even further. Kori gets in between. "What's going on?"

"Terra tried to kill Raven!" Damian snaps angrily.

Kori looks at Terra in disbelief before looking at Jaime. "Please go check on her."

Jaime nods before heading over to where Raven is lying. He tries to check on her forehead to see how badly it's hurt but every time he tries to touch her head, she would simply hiss and moan in pain.

"Hey, Star, I think she's hurt really badly," Jaime tells Kori.

"Take her back to the Tower," Kori tells him.

Jaime carries Raven in his arms and flies back to the Tower to attend her wounds at the medical bay, leaving Kori and the others to deal with Damian and Terra.

"Argh!" Damian growls as he lunges himself at Terra but Kori pushes him back .

"That's enough!" she snaps.

"It's _her_ you should be stopping, not me!" Damian demands viciously.

"It was an accident!" Terra declares in the most innocent way as possible. "I was only trying to show Raven some of my powers but I lost control and hit her head with a rock. It was an accident, I swear -."

"Liar!" Damian snaps and Kori tries her best to keep them apart without having to push Damian to the other side of the city.

Terra then looks at Garfield. "You believe me, don't you, Beast Boy?"

Garfield remains staring with wide eyes at first before stuttering incoherently. He doesn't know what to say or what to think. He doesn't know whether to trust Damian or Terra. As much as they don't get along, Damian is always right. Of course, Garfield would prefer if Damian is wrong for once since he really likes Terra, she doesn't look like the kind of person who would hurt a fly and would rather give her the benefit of the doubt than accusing her directly like Damian is doing right now. Besides, none of them saw what happened.

"Um, maybe we should ask Raven when she wakes up," he suggests awkwardly while scratching the back of his head, "I mean we didn't actually see what happened here."

"I heard her scream," Damian hisses angrily.

"But you didn't see her get hit, did you?" Garfield asks.

Damian remains silent, glaring daggers at Garfield. While others think he has nothing to say in his defense, Damian is actually thinking how many bones he can break in Garfield's body in order to get him out of that stupid love blindfold he has covering his eyes from the truth. The others are no better as Kori backs him up.

"I'm sorry, Damian, but Beast Boy is right. Until Raven wakes up to tell us what happened, we can't do anything about it but wait," Kori says, "Until then, Terra will remain in her room and will not leave until Cyborg and I say so. Damian, you and Garfield are not to go anywhere near Terra until Raven wakes up."

Garfield protests. "But -."

"Not more buts," Kori says sternly. She then turns to Terra. "I'm sorry, Terra but we really don't have a choice."

"That's okay," Terra says, "I know that you're all worry. And I want to help." Deep down inside, she's nervous. If Raven wakes up, she'll tell everyone what happened. Terra is praying that Raven will wake up with amnesia. She'll probably even forget she's a Titan.

* * *

"You're an idiot," Damian says sternly as he follows Garfield, "You're giving her the benefit of the doubt."

"Because we don't even know what happened," Garfield says, "You didn't even see what really happened. You just heard Raven scream. That's not enough evidence to accuse Terra. When Raven wakes up, then she'll tell us what really happened."

"Good, then she'll tell us that I was right and Terra is dangerous," Damian says as he stops in front of Garfield, blocking his way.

"What is your problem with Terra?" Garfield snaps at him, "She helped you save Raven from the fire at the orphanage. Why are you thinking that she would try to hurt Raven right now?"

"Not everything is so cut and dry, Garfield," Damian growls, "What sort of intentions did she have saving Raven? During the fire, she wanted me to leave the building while she got Raven out, but if that's what she wanted and would let Raven die there burning and give an excuse that she couldn't save her. I have every right to be suspicious of Terra. We don't know anything about her and you just let her in."

"Maybe instead of doubting her, why don't you trust us for once? You never trust any of us, not even me -."

"This has nothing to do about trust!" Damian snaps angrily. "This has to do with Raven's safety and you can't see that because you're love-struck with Terra -."

"And like you're not love-struck with Raven?" Garfield asks rhetorically, earning a glare from Damian. "Ever since she healed you the first day you came to Titans Tower, you became obsessed with her, wanting to know everything about her. And after Trigon got defeated, you suddenly got a crush on her, putting everyone and everything aside for her. I used to have a crush on her too, you know?"

Damian folds his arms over his chest. "Now you're going on about that?" He didn't know Garfield had a crush on Raven once until now but it doesn't faze him much. He honestly doesn't care who had a crush on who right now. "I don't care if you had a crush on her or not. What I _do_ care is that you're letting Terra cloud your judgement and for that, Raven is the medical bay injured. If you haven't let her into the Tower, none of this would have happened."

Garfield scoffs. "You really are Satan Jr., aren't you?"

"And you're a spineless fool," Damian gives Garfield a harsh shove back.

"Don't push me!" Garfield yells as he shoves Damian harder to the side and Damian hits his head against the wall hard.

There's even a cracking sound. Garfield stares in shock at what he has done. Damian is now curled up on the wall, holding his head in again.

"I didn't mean that," Garfield says while shaking his head. "I didn't. I'm sorry, Damian."

Damian blinks a couple of times before putting his hand on the back of his throbbing head. When he looks at his hands, he sees blood on it. He looks over his shoulder and sees blood smeared on the wall.

Garfield approaches Damian and grabs him by the elbow. "I'm sorry."

Damian snatches his arm back and pushes himself up from the floor. "Don't. Touch. Me."

He then walks away from Garfield, heading for the medical bay to check on Raven and to have his head bandaged, leaving Garfield standing there in shock.

* * *

Raven opens her eyes and finds herself in the Tower's medical bay instead of outside on the rocky shore. Her hand still hurts from the blow she received on the head by Terra. _Oh God, Terra_. She swallows the bile creeping up her throat and slowly sits up from the medical bed.

She looks around and nearly yelps when she sees Damian sitting next to her, reclined against the chair with his arms folded and staring sternly at her.

"Hey," she croaks tiredly. He doesn't say anything. "Looks like you were right about Terra."

Damian still doesn't say a word as he goes to the other side of the medical bay where the sink is and prepares a glass of water. Raven notices a gauze taped on the back of his head. She wanders what happened to him. Did Terra hit him with a rock too?

Damian returns to the medical bed and gives her the glass of water. Raven takes the glass and drinks the water from it.

"What happened to your head?" she asks. "Did Terra do that?"

"No," Damian says almost harshly, "Beast Boy threw me against the wall and I hit my head."

Raven frowns. "Why would he do that?"

"I made him angry for accusing Terra of attacking you," he says, "Which we all know that it's true."

Raven purses her lips and sighs. "You were right. I should have said something before something this could happen."

"Yeah, you should have," Damian says harshly, "If you had, none of this would have happened."

"I know," she sighs again. "I'm sorry, Damian."

"I'm getting sick of people saying that they're sorry and I'm sick of lies," he snaps as he stands from his chair. "I don't want your apology, Raven. All I want is for you to tell the truth. That's all I'm asking from you."

"You're leaving?" she asks as she watches him walk away from the medical bay.

"I'm going to tell Jaime you're awake," he says before leaving.

Raven is left alone in the medical. Tears fill up her eyes but quickly wipes them away with the back of her hand. She takes a look at the red crystal she still has between her fingers, unsure if she wants to place it on her forehead again, knowing that her father will start whispering constant threats.

She doesn't know what to do now. Terra could have killed her. And now Damian is angry at her for not doing what she should have done in the first place. She brings her knees up to her chest and sobs quietly.

* * *

Bruce waits until Dr. Leslie Thompkins finishes taking a blood sample from his arm. Once she takes out the needle, Bruce folds his arm up to hold the bleeding while Dr. Thompkins got him a bandage.

"I recommend some rest now, and something to eat before you leave," she says. "You don't want your blood sugar to go lower than it already is."

"How long do I have to wait for the results?" he asks.

"A few days, maybe a week," she informs him.

"Can't I have them for tomorrow?" he asks, almost demanding.

Dr. Thompkins frowns at him strangely. "Why so desperate, Mr. Wayne?"

Bruce doesn't say anything as he wraps the bandage around his arm.

"You still haven't told him, haven't you?" Dr. Thompkins guesses. as she throws away the needle in a trash bag along with a cotton balls.

"I don't think he's in the greatest moods of listening to me right now, Leslie," Bruce sighs, "I already told him I would take him off the Titans if he gets himself into trouble again. So far, he hasn't answered my calls."

"You're going to have to tell him soon," she warns him, "Or else, he'll find out either way. One way or another, he'll know what's going on and what you're hiding from him."

"I know, Leslie. I know. And I'm going to tell him. I'm just waiting for everything to be ready before telling him."

"I'm just telling you, it's best to tell him soon," she reminds him, "You know what happened to Jason. Don't let it happen to Damian as well."

"Thank you, Leslie." Bruce gets up from his seat and puts on his coat before leaving the doctor's office.

Once in the car, he pinches the bridge of his nose and sighs as he tries to figure out what to do next. He wants to tell Damian what's going on, why he's keeping the X-Rays hidden from him, why he's in a stressful mood and why he threatened Damian to be taken away from the Titans. He wants to tell him the truth but doesn't know how to tell Damian without him getting pissed for not being told sooner. But Bruce wants to wait a little while longer.

* * *

It's 11 p.m.. A blonde woman is laying curled up in her bed, wearing a tank top and underwear and her glasses set on the nightstand along with her cellphone, her laptop on the end of the bed and a bag of untouched Big Belly Burgers.

The cellphone rings and the woman sits up from the bed with a snort. "I'm up," she mutters before looking at the cellphone and groaning in annoyance. She picks up the phone and answers the call.

"Who the hell is this?" she asks grumpily.

" _Felicity_ ," a young girl's voice whisper through the phone. Felicity recognizes the girl's voice.

"Raven?" she asks. "Do you know what time is it?"

" _I know_ ," Raven says. She sounded urgent. " _I just...I didn't know who to call_."

"Are you okay? You sound agitated. What happened?" Felicity asks.

" _Can you pick me up?_ " Raven asks.

"Right now? I don't think Kori will let me in the Tower at this late hour."

" _I'm not in the Tower right now_ ," Raven says.

"What? Where are you then?" Felicity asks.

" _I'm at Alamo Square_ ," Raven explains, much to Felicity's shock. " _I teleported out of the Tower before anyone can see me. Please come get me_."

Felicity quickly gets out of bed, slips on her glasses over her eyes before putting on her pants and black leather jacket. She grabs her car keys. "I'm on my way right now," she says before hanging up on the phone and bolts out of the apartment.

* * *

"Terra is failing, Slade," the man growls darkly. "The Titans are getting close to finding out about what she was sent for."

"Indeed," Slade says while crossing his arms. "Terra is getting sloppy. She's letting her unreasonable hatred towards the empath get the best of her. Luckily, we might not need Terra to continue with our plans for the moment. We might have everything we need."

The man looks at the computer screens again, one of them is viewing a close-up of Alamo Square in San Francisco. Raven is in the park, alone and looking anxiously around as if she's being followed. A red 1955 Chevy Belair drives by the Alamo square and it slows down to stop next to the young Titan girl.

A woman of blonde hair with glasses comes out of the car and races to embrace Raven tightly before leading her to the passenger seat of the car before going back to the car herself.

"Looks like she's made our jobs easier," Slade smirks.

"Who is that woman?" his partner asks.

"Why don't we pay her a visit and find out?" Slade asks amusingly as they watch the car drive away from the park.

* * *

 **End of Chapter 11**


	14. Chapter 12: Burn the Witch

**I'm back. Yeah, my delays suck.**

 **I just saw _Teen Titans: The Judas Contract_. I loved it, minus a few small details (which I will not mention to avoid spoiling the movie) but overall, I loved the movie. **

* * *

"YO!" Jaime shouts after going to the medical bay to check on her, only for the room to be completely empty. Jaime already checked her bedroom to see if she was there. She wasn't. It's clear that she disappeared. He bolts over to the common room where Kori and Victor would be. "Raven is gone!"

"What? What do you mean gone!?" Starfire exclaims in disbelief.

"I mean she's gone. I left the medical bay for one minute to get her water. When I went back, she was gone," Jaime explains.

"What do you mean she's gone!?"

Jaime, Kori and Victor turn around to see Damian standing behind them, his eyes wide and his teeth clenched. Uh-oh.

"Where is she!?" he snaps at Jaime as he approaches them angrily.

Jaime immediately backs up and holds his hands up. "Whoa, _hermano_ , I don't know! I just went back to the medical bay to find her gone! I don't know where she is!"

"Did you check her room?" Victor asks Jaime.

He nods. "I _did_. She's not there either. I even checked the gym. She just vanished into thin air."

"Where could she have gone?" Kori asks.

Damian puts a lot of thought to it but honestly didn't need to take a second guess. . "I think I know where she went."

* * *

The beach seems to be the perfect place to calm down the nerves. The sound of the dark waves crashing down at the shore and rocks, the smell of sea salt, the feeling cold breeze and the moon shining bright in the black sky.

The two girls are sitting on the hood of the car parked near the beach, with Raven resting her head on Felicity's lap with the blonde smoking a cigarette. They went to a convenient store before arriving at the beach, a large bag of Chips Ahoy! cookies, a jar of peanut butter and a pack of Coca-Cola. It's not a healthy snack but of course, Felicity was having the munchies and she always says that junk food made things everything better.

"You should really stop smoking that crap," Raven suggests, "It's bad for you."

"Raven, baby, you have your habits and I have mine," she says, smoke coming out of her mouth, "Deal with it."

Raven doesn't even try to argue with her. She knows better to get on Felicity's bad side. After she helped the Titans for awhile, they come to realize Felicity Smoak has a temper and sometimes a bad attitude. The pushier you get, the more hostile she acts. Raven is the only member of the Titan she has ever connected with, having many things in common. Raven has even stayed at Felicity's apartment a few times when things at the Tower go tense and sour.

"You really need to stop calling me in the middle of the night," Felicity sighs with a hint of croak in her tone. "I need my beauty sleep and I can't solve everything shit you guys have back at the Tower of yours. Whatever crap is going on over there is your problem not mine. Just because you jump off a cliff, doesn't mean I have to jump after all of you."

"Sorry," Raven apologizes.

Felicity then closes her eyes and sighs. "No, I'm sorry. You're having a bad day and here I am telling you to piss off when needing my help."

"You have no idea," Raven sighs. Her head still hurts from the blow Terra gave her with the rock.

"So what's the matter this time? Did Kori and Dick get into another of their old married couple fights or are you getting love sickness?" she asks. Raven looks up at her and frowns in confusion. "What? You think I haven't noticed? Raven, the times I helped your team, I've seen how the Robin kid looks at you. He likes you. And I can tell you like him back."

Raven sighs in deception. "I don't know if he likes me anymore. I made a mistake and bad decisions, things I don't know if I'll be able to take back."

"Like what?"

"Not listening to him when he was right," she says.

"And what was he right about?" Felicity asks.

"There's a new member in our team. Her name is Terra," Raven explains, "She helped Damian save me from a fire but Damian didn't trust her from the start. I saw bad things in her head when I shook hands with her, things that gave me goosebumps."

"Like what?"

"Bad things," she sighs, "I didn't see them clearly. There were two men, one who I think I may have seen before and the other, I don't know but it felt familiar. I knew there was something about Terra. I told Damian. He told me to tell Kori yet I wanted to give Terra the benefit of the doubt and things went downhill from there. Terra is in isolation. Damian and Garfield are fighting. And now Damian is angry at me."

"Does that explain the bandage around your head?" Felicity asks while pointing at the bandage still wrapped around her head where Terra struck her.

Raven nods. "Terra hit me with a rock. She tried to kill me."

Felicity's eyes widen behind her glasses. "She tried to kill you? Damn, that bitch has balls. She has no idea who she's messing with. Wait till I get my hands on her when we get back to the Tower."

"Please don't tell me you're planning on beating her up," Raven says hopefully.

"Oh yes, I am," Felicity says with a nod, "I'm not going to let some blonde bimbo beat my pretty bird down."

"But you're blonde," Raven points out.

"But I'm not a bimbo nor am I a real blonde. But you didn't see that coming," she says and the two girls laugh together.

This is exactly what she needs right now. A laugh. The company of friend. No tension. No pressure. Just peace and quiet, and good company. Not that Damian is bad company, or Jaime or Garfield but they are all angry at the moment and can't take so much angry.

"There's something else," Raven says while sitting up straight and shows the red gem in her hands.

"I was wondering where that thing went," Felicity says, "You weren't wearing it."

"I had it knocked off when Terra hit me in the head," Raven explains. "I haven't been able to put it back and I don't know if I want to put it back. It brings bad memories."

"That's where your father is right? Trapped in the gem?" Felicity asks and she nods. "If it brings you bad memories that much, why don't you just rid of it?"

Raven shakes her head in denial. "I can't just throw it away. I'm scared that he'll try to escape if I leave it alone. If someone tries to break it, I'm scared that he might break free either way. I don't know how to get rid of it without making sure he doesn't escape again."

"You told me once that you were his vessel, the only chance for escaping," Felicity points out. "You're the only one who can summon him from that gem, right?" Raven nods. "Then as long as you don't try to summon him, he can't get out so I don't know what's the problem trying to get rid of it."

Raven frowns. "Right?" She sighs afterwards. She knows the only way for Trigon to get out is for her to summon him. Her brothers are no longer around. She's the only one who can get him out. As long as she doesn't summon him, everything will be all right. Then why is she so afraid?

Felicity nudges her, snapping her out of her thoughts. "Get rid of it. It doesn't do you good."

"I don't know where to throw it away."

"There's only one place no human soul can find it," Felicity says while looking at the ocean. Raven looks into the same direction. The gem would be lost in the depths of the ocean if she throws it there.

"Aquaman and Aqualad might be able to find it though. Atlantis is down there, remember?" Raven reminds her.

Felicity rolls her eyes. "Screw it then. I get nothing else." She continues puffing onto the cigarette.

"Hey, Felicity, can I ask you a question?"

"You just did," she smirks. Raven responds by punching her lightly on the shoulder.

"Why did you leave Star City?"

Felicity sighs at the question made. "Well...let's see. Things were going well for me in Star City, I'm not going to lie. I worked for the Green Arrow. We've been friends for quite awhile. Black Canary and I got along just fine. But then, things happened and I decided to skip town and start over. Plus I had a moment where I turned into Bitch Mode on my boss." Raven simply stares at her in surprise. "I used to be a nerd," she says with a mischievous smirk.

"I hate to burst your bubble but you're still are," Raven says.

"Oh no, I'm talking about full nerd, like ponytailed, sensitive fashion and bumbling kind of nerd, you know?" Felicity says, "I never even smoked a cigarette back then. I never even smoked weed."

"Yet, you do now?"

"Stress, honey, it gets to you," she says. "Do you want to know what really happened?" she asks and Raven nods. "I fell in love. Not with the Green Arrow though. That was never gonna happen. I fell in love with a bad man. I didn't know he was bad back then. He wanted the Green Arrow dead. When I found out, he tried to kill me because he didn't know I worked for the Green Arrow to this day. After the man I once loved disappeared, I had a heated argument with the boss, I quit the team and decided to bail Star City. I took me awhile to get my life back in order." She sighs. "And yet I feel it's a complete mess. There are some mistakes we can't fix, Raven. All we can do is move on and try to forget it ever happened."

"I'm guessing you're still having a hard time with that," Raven says.

"You have no idea," Felicity says. "My mom used to tell me that I'm like a rock. Either I let myself to into a diamond or let myself crumble into dust. We all try to be that diamond yet we still feel like crumbling."

Raven responds by embracing her, placing her head and her shoulder and Felicity kisses her head.

"Get rid of that crap," Felicity keeps insisting as she throws away the cigarette. "It's only gonna bring you more misery."

Raven reluctantly nods in agreement before sliding off the hood of the car, gem in hand. She takes a deep breath before taking a step forward, the wind making her black hair flap around her face. She looks at the red glowing gem in her hands. It will be lost in the sea. No one will find it, just like Felicity says.

Just as Raven is about to throw the gem away, she hears an incoming car. Felicity looks over her shoulder and sees a black Jeep drive up to the beach, parking just a few feet behind her car. The headlights are shining blindingly light to a point where Felicity has to squint.

"Hey! Turn off the headlights, will ya!? And park somewhere else, maybe!?" she shouts out while her hand is secretly gesturing Raven to come back. Slowly, Raven does as told and heads back to the car.

The headlights still remain on and shining at the two girls. Felicity slides off the hood and takes a step forward.

"Hey!" she shouts, "I said turn that off and go somewhere else! Beat it!" However, the Jeep doesn't turn off the headlights nor does it move from the spot. Felicity squints to get a better look at the Jeep. The windows are tinted in black, in a way that no one can see inside the vehicle. "Raven," she tells her carefully, "Get in the car."

"What's -?"

" _Get_ _in_ the car," Felicity says more demandingly.

Raven nods and slowly makes her way to the passenger's side. She gets in and quickly puts on her seatbelt. Felicity backs up to the driver's side and opens the door.

"I have a gun with me," she warns to whoever is in the Jeep. "So don't get out or I'll shoot you."

Just as she says this, a sharp pain shoots through her right shoulder and the blonde woman shouts out in pain.

"Felicity!" Raven screams.

"Shit!" Felicity shouts and quickly gets in the car, slamming the door shut. She starts the car and steers it around.

"They're blocking us!" Raven says.

"We're going to have to find another exit. Hold on." Felicity says as she drives her car towards the shore but makes a right turn, tires sinking slightly in the sand as the car is almost driven in water. She drives past large rocks, which she knows it wouldn't let a vehicle as big as the Jeep to pass through.

Felicity continues driving with difficulty through the sand and finally drives up back to the road. So far, the Jeep isn't following them.

Raven notices a bloody hole through Felicity's black leather jacket. "They shot you."

"Thanks for stating the obvious, honey," she hisses in pain. "God, that hurts."

"Why would they shoot you?"

"How about we turn back and ask them!?" she snaps, her hands shaking against the steering wheel. "Put your seatbelt on, please."

"I have it on. You don't."

"Then keep it on," she snaps before putting the seatbelt herself. Raven can tell that she's scared now, just by watching her hands shake.

"Where are we going?" Raven asks.

"I'm taking you home," Felicity tells her sternly and hisses. "Son of bitches."

"You need a doctor," Raven states urgently.

"That's why _you're_ here, right?"

"I only had enough energy to teleport out of the Tower. I can't teleport back and I don't think I can heal you right now...I'm drained."

"Then you're going to have to heal me when we get there," Felicity says and mutters. "Jesus Christ. Why the heck were they shooting us for? Shit. I just asked them to turn off the headlights and park somewhere else. It's no reason for them to shoot me."

"You did sounded a little snappy. Also, basically you were telling them to piss off," Raven points out.

"Well, as you can see, they were probably creeps wanting to get their way with us," Felicity says.

Raven shakes her head. "I'm so sorry. It's my fault. I called you. You got shot. We shouldn't have been there."

"It's not your fault so shut the hell up."

Raven senses a presence behind them. When she looks over the seat, she sees the Jeep from the beach driving right behind them. "Oh my God!" She really wishes she had her telekinesis right now.

"Frack!" Felicity curses before stepping on the accelerator and driving fast down the road. "We have to get to the city. They can't follow us there without witnesses seeing everything."

The glas from the back of the car shatters as it gets shot. Both Raven and Felicity duck their heads in order to avoid getting shot, letting out yelps. Felicity drives. She can't drive fast enough though. She'll crash the car and the possibility of dying in a car crash is immense.

"Why are they after us now?" Raven asks.

"Ask _them_!"

Felicity continues driving. They're almost near the city. However, the Jeep gets closer and rams into the back of the car, making the two girls yelp and jerk forward. They're lucky to be wearing their seatbelts or they'd be flying through the windshields. "Those assholes are gonna kill us!"

The road leads up a cliff where you have the rocky wall on one side and a metal railing on the other side to keep cars from falling through the steep rocky hill down to the ocean. The car can either crash into the rocky wall or crash through the railing into the ocean where they can die drowning. Felicity is trapped to drive ahead.

Not mention there's a curve up ahead. With Felicity going too fast, she'll easily miss the curve and the car will drive straight through the railing and the car will fall into the ocean. They might be able to get. Neither of them can swim though.

Just as the car nears the curve, it suddenly starts lifting up from the road and now flying through the air. Raven looks out the window and down to see the Jeep that has been following them stop as it got too close to the curve and nearly crashes into the railing. It's not the only thing she sees. She spots red hair and purple booted legs under Felicity's car.

"Kori!" Raven sighs in relief when she realizes it's Kori flying the car into the air.

"When we get back, you're so grounded!" the red-headed alien shouts while flying the car over the city.

Raven sits back and lets out a relieved sigh. "I can't believe I'm saying this but I think I'm glad Kori found us, even if it means getting grounded. What do you think? A week trapped inside my room?"

Felicity puts a hand on her shoulder. "Honey, you'll probably get a month's worth of punishment. And I'm not getting your ass out of this one this time."

It's true what she's saying. Raven is going to be yelled and grounded so badly for leaving the Tower and scaring the living hell out of everyone. But at least they're safe from the psychos that were trying to kill them back there.

* * *

Kori returns to Titans Tower carrying the damaged car and lands on the roof where the others are worriedly waiting: Damian, Victor, Jaime, Garfield and now Dick. Kori called him the moment Raven went missing. Kori sets the car down and Raven steps out of it. However, Felicity falls out of the car on her knees and starts vomiting.

"I almost forgot I get airsick," Felicity spurts out as she continues to vomit.

"Thanks for waiting until we landed," Raven says. Being covered in vomit would not be a very pleasant experience.

Felicity gives a thumbs up. "My pleasure."

Jokes set aside, Raven realizes that she's in big trouble. Everyone is staring at her seriously with arms crossed, including Kori herself. She rubs her arm awkwardly and looks down in shame. "Hey guys."

Kori steps in front of her. "What were you thinking!? Jaime went to check on you and you were gone! We were worried sick! We had to call Dick and almost had a search party! Luckily Damian had a tracker on Felicity Smoak's phone or we wouldn't have found you!"

"I'm sorry, Kori," Raven apologizes, "I didn't mean for it to happen."

"Then why did you leave the Tower?" Dick asks sternly.

"With everything that's been happening," she sighs, "With Terra, everyone getting mad at each other and Garfield slamming Damian to a wall, I - I just couldn't take the pressure. I needed to get out the Tower to clear my head. I teleported out of the Tower but my energy got drained so I called Felicity and she gave me a ride to the beach hoping it might help."

"Yet you two were being chased and gunned down by a Jeep," Kori says.

"How did that happen?" Jaime asks, finally speaking up.

Raven shakes her head, "I don't know. We were doing fine. But then this car came up to the beach with the headlights blinding us. It was strange since no one was getting out of the car. Felicity told me to get inside the car. She got shot and everything went bad. We thought we lost them but they were following us the entire time."

"You're lucky I got to you in time," Kori says and places a hand on Raven's shoulder. "Don't ever do that again, do you hear me?"

"Yes, Kori. And again, I'm sorry," Raven apologizes again. "Am I grounded?"

"Big time," Dick answers for her. "Right now, you need to tell us what really happened? Kori told me Terra hit you in the head with a rock. Is that true?"

Raven looks at Damian who's clearly ticked off with her right now for leaving the Tower like that, just by the glaring look he's giving her. She knows better than hide this time. "Yes, she did. She hit me in the head with a rock...hard."

"But it was an accident, right?" Garfield asks with such hopefulness in his voice that it makes harder for her to tell him the truth. He's even giving her the puppy dog eyes.

But it's best for her to just spit it out already.

"No, Garfield," she says, shaking her head. "It wasn't. She...attacked me. She approached me at the shore. We were talking. I was going back to the Tower because Jaime was giving me Spanish class -."

"Oh yeah, I completely forgot our class today," Jaime says while scratching the back of his head in embarrassment. "Sorry -."

"I'd love to listen to the rest of the story of how the bitch almost killed Raven," Felicity stands up after wiping off vomit from her mouth and approaching the Titans, "But I just got shot. I'm bleeding. And did you really put a tracker on my phone?" She says this while turning to Damian.

"You weren't looking," Damian sneers, "And I thought it be best to keep track of you on all times."

"Creep," she mutters.

"Come on, Miss Smoak," Victor says, taking her by the good arm. "We'll patch you up."

"I think the bullet is still lodged into my shoulder," Felicity says.

"Don't worry. I'll get that out." Victor leads her into the Tower where she'll be taken care of in the medical bay.

 _It's my fault she got shot_ , Raven thinks as she looks over Damian who instantly (and angrily) turn his back to her and heads back inside. Raven closes her eyes sighs. He's angry. He has all the rights to be angry. She left the Tower without telling them. They probably thought she was trying to avoid telling them about Terra. And she put Felicity and herself in danger out there. The team has every right to be angry with her, including Damian.

They all go back inside where Raven manages to tell Kori and Dick what happened at the shore, how Terra just outright attacked her. She only turned her back for one second, when she looked back at Terra, her face was met with a large rock. The only thing Raven can guarantee is that she doesn't know why Terra attacked her. It's probably because she saw something Terra didn't want her to see and would probably try to kill her or at least smash the memory out of her skull.

Raven decides to take a shower after the whole ordeal. Kori and Dick are going to be interrogating Terra for the night. Hopefully, they'll find out why she attacked her or what was her purpose coming to the Tower in the first place.

She ends up running into Damian on the way to her room. "Hi."

Damian simply glares at her then brushes past her. Raven lets out a deep sigh, knowing that Damian doesn't want to talk to her right now. She can't blame him for it.

"Have you ever stopped to think?" Raven stops in her tracks when she hears Damian that. She looks over her shoulder to see him still glaring at her with arms crossed. "Have you ever stopped what could have happened if you left the Tower? Have you stopped to think of the consequences?"

Raven simply shakes her head. "No. I didn't. I'm sorry."

"Sorry doesn't even cut it. What you did was inexcusable and dangerous. You got yourself in danger and got Felicity Smoak shot -."

"It's not like I asked to get chased and shot at, Damian," she says, finally turning to face him.

"Those people that shot at you could have been the same people Terra is working for," he says.

"Who knows? It could have been anyone. And I know that bringing Felicity into this mess was a mistake -."

"Then why did you do it? Why did you leave the Tower tonight? To avoid telling the truth about Terra? To avoid me? Is that what's all about? Because I yelled at you like I'm doing now," he demands.

"No, it's not that," she says.

"Then what is it? Help me understand why you did that? Why you didn't want to tell Kori about Terra in the first place? Why did you leave the Tower like that while you were still in danger."

"I - I don't know. I wasn't thinking straight," she stutters, "Maybe I was just afraid."

"Afraid of what?" Damian asks. "What are you so afraid of? Terra?"

"It's not just Terra I'm afraid -."

"What else then? If it isn't just Terra then what else? Is it my father?" he asks. Raven shakes her head, saying no. "Is it Garfield? Are you afraid that he's mad you for revealing Terra for -."

"It's not Garfield, Damian. It's not him I'm afraid -."

"Is it me? Are you afraid of me?" he asks.

"... I'm afraid of losing your friendship, Damian. But it's not that either," she swears.

"Then what -?"

"Me!" She finally snaps at him, "I'm afraid of me!"

There's a moment of silence as Damian is clearly taken aback by this answer.

Before Damian can say anything else, Raven storms off to her room and slams the door shut even if they do close by themselves. She just wanted to slam something right now.

She takes a hot shower for about 30 minutes, more than she has ever taken in the bathroom, only to realize that she's been curled up in the corner of the shower, her face buried into her knees and sobbing. _Burn the witch. She's a demon._ She feels tied up and dragged through the ground like an animal while the familiar words witch and demon are being shouted angrily at. However, those memories are not her own.

"Burn the witch. She's a demon," she keeps muttering to herself over and over again. "Burn the witch. She's a demon."

Damian can even hear it from his bedroom without her knowing it.

* * *

Dick is in the interrogation room, talking to Terra who's been in metal cuffs to keep her from using her geokinetic abilities against him or anyone else for that matter. Dick has been trying to get her into talking. He even brought her water and asked if she needed anything. She hasn't been cooperating and has already told him to go away more than twice. But Dick is persistent as always.

"Why did you attack Raven?" he continues ask. She doesn't answer. "Why did you come to the Tower?" Still no answer. "Listen, I'm trying to understand what you're feeling but you have to tell me why you attacked Raven?'

Terra remains glaring at Dick with no other emotion. "Maybe I wasn't clear...Piss off."

* * *

"Thanks for having me here, Kori," Felicity hisses gratefully as Victor finishes stitching up the bullet on her shoulder. He managed to take the bullet out from her shoulder with a pair of tweezers without severing any arteries. She had to bite into a cloth in order to get the bullet out without her screaming bloody murder.

"It's a pleasure, Felicity and I must say that I never got the chance to thank you for trying to keep Raven safe," Kori says.

"Well, someone needs to take care of her when you guys aren't around," Felicity states while Victor patches her up.

"We can always use the extra hand around here," Victor says.

"And there's still enough room for more team members

"Thanks but no thanks, Kori," Felicity rejects the offer. "Listen. I like you guys a lot. And so far you might be considered as my friend but lets all be honest that I'm not cut up for it. I'm a hacker, not a fighter."

"Heroes come in different forms, Felicity. Body and mind. We try to keep balance of the two-."

"No offense, Kori, but the last time I heard that was about five years ago before I ended up leaving town," Felicity says. Victor finishes patching up the wound. Once done, Felicity grabs her jacket. "I'm not a hero, Kori. Never have. Never will. So please stop insisting and stop sending me requests. My email is filled with them, including a love letter from Garfield."

Kori scoffs in annoyance. "I thought I told him not to do that."

"Puberty, honey," Felicity chuckles.

"Would you at least stay for dinner?" Kori asks, "And at least sleepover a couple of nights."

"Kori. I'm serious. I said no many times and the answer is still no. I don't want to be part of another team ever again."

Kori nods in agreement. "I understand that. But hear me out. It's not about asking you to join us. It's about Raven. She needs you. I don't think she's well and needs help from someone whom she believes will listen to her."

"I'm not therapist or a babysitter. And Raven doesn't need me. She can take care of herself. All she needs to have some sense knocked into her," Felicity says while shoving her feet into her boots.

"And that's why she needs you. She listens to you more than anyone else," Victor says.

Felicity looks at both of them, knowing that neither of them are going to stop bugging her until she says yes. "You guys want me to stay for awhile? Fine. I'll stay but just for a few days."

"Splendid," Kori says. "I shall have your room prepared." The Tamaran girl leaves the medical bay.

"I'll heat up the leftover pizza from yesterday." Victor leaves also, leaving Felicity alone and confused.

"That's it? Isn't anyone going to my apartment and get my stuff? You guys suck."

As Kori makes her way to one of the bedrooms, Victor walks over to her with a plastic bag in his hand. Inside it is the bullet that struck Felicity Smoak.

"Got the fragments. The bullet looks high tech," he says. " And get this. The components in the bullet has a very high unidentified toxin formed in Cadmus."

"How -?"

"It's unidentified because they never gave it a name when Cadmus was shut down," he explains.

"If the bullet is toxic, how is Felicity Smoak not affected by it?" Kori asks.

"Because the toxin is made for metahumans," he says.

"But Felicity is not a metahuman," Kori says.

"No but Raven is," Victor points out.

Kori's eyes then widen in shock. "Oh my God. The bullet wasn't meant for Miss Smoak. It was meant for Raven."

Victor nods. "I think we need to have an emergency meeting. Right now."

* * *

"My partner failed to capture Raven," Slade's partner says as Slade continues to watch the Titans through the monitors.

"Yes, I've noticed. The alien they call Starfire has been able to rescue both her and the blonde from your kidnapping," Slade says. "Luckily there is another plan but you must follow it absolutely perfect. Do you understand?"

The man nods. No mistakes shall be made this time.

* * *

 _ **I know this might not be the best but at least I'm trying.**_

 _ **Anyways, I hoped you liked the chapter.**_

 _ **Until next time guys.**_


	15. Chapter 13: Listen and Learn

**Another chapter is here. Yay.**

 **This is the longest-ass chapter I've written in _Judas Contract_ so far. It includes a flashback involving Damian and Deathstroke, and how the whole shit with Ra's al Ghul went down. Also, I might make a small alteration to Damian's past. **

**Enjoy.**

* * *

" _You don't own me. I'm not just one of your many toys_ ," Felicity sings a Lesley Gore song as she's doing the dishes after breakfast the next morning. Kori insisted her on not doing the dishes at first since she's a guest at the Tower but Felicity wanted to do since she has nothing else to do it. She has nothing else to do at the Tower since her stuff are still at her apartment and Kori sent Victor to get them. " _You don't own me. Don't say I can't go with other boys. And don't tell me what to do! Don't tell me what to say! And please, when I got out with you! Don't put me on display 'cause you don't own me. Don't try to change me in any -_."

"What are you doing?"

" – Jesus!" Felicity exclaims with a fright. She turns around to find Damian standing behind her at the other side of the kitchen island, staring at her with an estranged frown on his face. "Don't do that. That creepy popping out of nowhere thing. It's not cool…at all." She takes off the yellow rubber gloves, tosses them aside and folds her arms over her chest. "How long have you've been sitting there?"

"For a few minutes," he says. He's eating cereal for breakfast. Cocoa Puffs. Who knew the kid would like iconic cereals. "You have a nice voice, Miss Smoak. You should consider retiring from hacking and become a singer."

"Is that sarcasm, I'm hearing? Why don't you try singing, frog face?" she asks with a teasing smile and a raised eyebrow. "On second thought, maybe don't. You'll probably sound like nails on a chalkboard."

"I don't know if I'm sitting here to be insulted or to thank you for keeping Raven safe, Pandora," Damian says as he continues to eat his cereal, the milk already turning brown.

Felicity scoffs. "You're still calling me Pandora? Why can't you just call me by my real name? I know I do. Also, you're welcome."

"Pandora is your codename, isn't it? I've never seen you wash dishes before," he points out, "Every time we go to your home for help, the dishes are always piled up in the sink. We even found a cockroach there once."

"You try working in front of a computer for hours on end," she says sharply, "It's painful. Sitting on my ass until goes numb and fingers start cracking. It's a miracle I get any sleep at all. Last night was the greatest sleep I ever had since I wasn't anywhere _near_ my computer."

Damian seems distracted right now. He continues looking at the elevator. The doors slide open, only for Jaime and Dick to come out of it. He hasn't seen Garfield this morning. Garfield is either still made at Damian for the whole Terra thing or ashamed that he threw Damian to a wall, and that he was right about Terra attacking Raven. But most importantly, no Raven. She hasn't arrived at breakfast. She hasn't come out of her bedroom. Probably doesn't want to talk.

"She's not coming down here, isn't she?" he sighs, his eyes now saddening.

Felicity simply rolls her eyes. "Stop being such a freaking stalker, Frog Face. If she wants to come out of her room, she'll come out of her room. Weren't you mad at her last night?"

Damian sighs. He stops eating his cereal and stirs it with the spoon. "I was. Now I'm not so sure. I mean, she was sorry. I guess I just…I don't know."

"Remember, Damian, Raven has had a complicated life. And she's still struggling," she tells him, "And she's still struggling, with that gem she has with her father trapped in it, and absorbing other people's emotions. Hell, I've been trying to tell her to get rid of that gem. It's no good for her."

"What do you think I should do about it?" he asks. He would ask Kori but she's not here right now, probably still interrogating Terra.

"Well, let's make things a little clearer," Felicity says while making her way around the kitchen island and sits down next to him. "I'm not your mother. I'm not your babysitter and I'm certainly not your marriage counselor. God help the poor woman whoever gets married to you. Second, whatever situation you and Raven have right now is none of my business. You want to fix it, fix it yourself. You sleep on the bed you make…That sounded so badly right now."

Dick chuckles in amusement. "Really bad."

"Let me rephrase it then," Felicity says, "Just, give her time, okay? When she's ready to talk, she'll talk. Just don't hover so much. It puts too much pressure for her and trust me, no one likes to be pressured." She bites her lower lip before getting up from her seat and heads back to the kitchen sink. "I've been there."

Damian sighs. It pains him to wait. But if he has to be patient, he'll give it a try. He then turns his attention to Dick. "Has Terra said anything yet?"

"No, she won't talk," he says, "Kori is still in there interrogating her but she won't say anything to us. She's just ignoring us."

"Wouldn't it be better to just hand her over to the authorities…or the Justice League…or Batman?" Jaime asks. Damian frowns at him. "I know you two are having family issues right now but don't you think this is important?"

"Yes, I agree," Damian says with a nod, "but we can't risk it. The room is made of steel and glass, the only place where she can't manipulate earth no matter what. If we let her near solid ground, there's no telling what she'll do."

"We have her in cuffs," Jaime points out.

"But Damian is right, Jaime," Dick says, "We can't risk it. I'll try to inform Batman but I don't think we can have him or the Justice League handle the situation. Besides, they already have their own problems. We can deal with ours."

"How about I talk to her?" Felicity suggests, "I bet I can rough up Little Miss Terrarizer into talking."

"No violence, Felicity," Dick says.

She scoffs. "Killjoy. Though I didn't mean actually beating her up. More likely to intimidate her. I've done a lot of practicing and I'm getting pretty good at it."

"That's nice to hear, Miss Smoak," Damian says before getting off his seat. "But I have another alternative way of getting her to talk."

"Threatening is not an alternative," Dick says.

"Tt. I'm not talking about threatening," Damian retorts, "I'm talking about exploiting her secrets. Listen and learn, and you'll know more about your enemies than you think. I think I might know something Terra doesn't want anyone to know."

"Listen and learn," Jaime raises an eyebrow at that, "So basically you might know something about Terra she doesn't want anyone to know. Do you know what it is?"

"Perhaps."

"Well, Ra's must have taught you a lot," Dick says.

Damian, however, sighs at this comment. "My grandfather didn't teach me that."

Dick's eyes widen in surprise, not expecting an answer like this. "What do you mean? You said Ra's al Ghul taught you everything you know -."

"Most of it. I've had other mentors, Grayson," Damian points out, "Not everything revolved around my grandfather."

"So, if Ra's didn't teach you this, then who -?"

"I don't want to talk about it," he says and immediately strides away to the elevator, leaving the bowl of cereal on the kitchen island.

"Hey, you need to clean this up!" Felicity exclaims. But the elevator doors already close. He's gone. "Crap." She grabs the bowl and empties the cereal into the trash can.

"That was weird," Jaime comments and Dick nods in agreement.

* * *

 ** _10 years ago…._**

 ** _Nanda Parbat…_**

 _3-year-old Damian is in the weapons room, staring at the window, looking at the snowy mountains and the birds flying over it. He used to have a buzz cut and his face was smaller and eyes were bigger back then, almost looking like a girl. He then looked down at the older assassins training and fighting. He wished he could be fighting with older students but since he was still a child, he had to learn the basics first._

 _"Damian."_

 _He immediately turned his head around to see Slade standing next to him with arms crossed and frowning down at him. Damian almost gulped but simply blinked at him._

 _"Is there something interesting outside that caught your attention?" he asked._

 _Damian shook his head. "No," he said meekly._

 _"Damian, what were the rules that Ra's and I taught you?" Slade asked with an annoyed sigh._

 _"To not leave your side until 3 or if I need to go to the bathroom," Damian said. He already knew the rules by heart._

 _"And do you have to go to the bathroom?" Slade asked._

 _"No," he responded._

 _"Is it three o' clock yet?" Slade asked again._

 _Damian looked over at the old clock hanging above the doorway. It marked 2 o' clock in the afternoon. "No," he said._

 _"Then what the hell are you standing here for," Slade said before pushing him out from where he stood, "Get away from the window. And pay attention, will you?"_

 _"Yes, sir." Damian nods as he sat back down on the bench where weapons were displayed in front of him on the table. There are four different sized swords displayed in front of him._

 _"You're worse than your cousin. Can you tell me what these swords?" Slade asked as he stood at the other end of the table, observing carefully, "Remember, they might look the same but they're different."_

 _Damian nods. "I know._ _Katana. O Katana. Chisa Katana. O Tanto."_ _He then pointed at the smaller sword which was the O Tanto. "Is that one mine?"_

 _"When you learn how to use it then yes," Slade said before pointing at the sharp star-like weapons. "Can you tell me what these are?"_

 _"They are called Shuriken, also commonly known as the throwing star," Damian answered. He then grabbed a small brown canvas sack. "And this is metsubishi, a concoction of ashes, sand and dirt made to impair the vision of our enemies. It even means **crush the eye**." _

_"Yes," Slade said as he made his way around the table and quickly snatched the back from his hand. "And unless you want to be blinded, you don't open it."_

 _"Yes sir."_

 _"And this one?" Slade asked while holding up a metal glove with sharp fingers. Damian simply stared at it, his eyes widening in amazement before snatching from Slade's hold._

 _"Neko Te," he said with a grin on his child face, " **M**_ ** _akhallab alqat_.** _Cat claw."_

 _Slade chuckled in amusement at the boy's expression. "And what does it do?"_

 _"It's used for hitting, clawing and grabbing anything we can get our hands on. The eyes, the arteries and the throat," Damian said, "Not only are these used to attack and grip our enemies, they are used to block weapons. Knives, shuriken and swords. They are a great advantage for battle."_

 _Slade nodded. "Very good. You've been studying them quite well."_

 _"They're my favourite. They are mostly meant for women, but they are quite fascinating," Damian said as he continued to observe the weapon in his hand with much interest._

 _"Give me that before you hurt yourself, kid," Slade snatched the Neko Te back. "When you learn how to use these, then you can actually use them."_

 _"And when will I use them?" Damian asked._

 _"When I **say** so," Slade said more sternly and Damian nodded in agreement, knowing better than angering one of his mentors. It was enough with his uncle Dusan al Ghul. "Can you tell me what these are?" he asked while pointing at something that looks like a farm tool that looks like a scythe. Damian gulped. He didn't know what they were called. He studied them but he couldn't remember. When he didn't respond, Slade rolled his eyes. "We've been over this a hundred times, kid. It's a Kama. A rice farming tool. We use it to attack outside invaders. How many times must we discuss this?" _

_"Sorry, sir," Damian apologized._

 _Slade sighed and shook his head in disappointment. "We'll go over it again tomorrow. It's almost three o' clock. Class is over."_

 _"But grandfather said that if I failed to answer all of them correctly -."_

 _"I already said this to Ra's and I'll say it again, I'm not hitting a three-year-old," Slade said, "Now, follow me. I have one more lesson before dinner."_

 _Damian bowed his head obediently. "Yes, sir."_

 _He followed Slade out of the weapons room and into the hallway. "What is our last lesson for today?"_

 _"Shh," he said, "Shut up, close your eyes and listen. Listen and learn. What do you hear?"_

 _Damian did just that. He closed his eyes and kept his ears open. So far, all he could hear were the other students fighting, sword clashing, bags being punch and yelling. He suddenly caught the sound of two people talking at the far end of the hall._

 _"When do we kill Ra's al Ghul?..."_

 _"...When the time is right...We can kill him in his sleep but we have to make sure everyone is asleep...Otherwise, our plans our ruined..."_

 _Damian opened his eyes and looked up at Slade. "Two men are planning to kill grandfather. Over there." He pointed at the far end of the hall._

 _"Let's see if your right," Slade walked over to the other side of the hall while Damian stayed put._

 _It was exactly that. Slade Wilson caught two of Ra's al Ghul's students planning to kill the master in his sleep. They were apprehended by others and were brought before Ra's for trial. The reason for treason was because the students thought Ra's methods were beyond appalling and inhuman and if they couldn't leave the League of Assassins, they thought the only way to be freed was to eliminate the leader. Ra's had the choice of either having them executed or exiled from Nanda Parbat. However, Slade had a different idea._

 _"Since Damian is the one who discovered the two, you should let him decide," he suggested._

 _Ra's nodded in agreement. "Very well. Damian, come here," he called out. Damian nodded and approached his grandfather. "This is your first lesson of passing the sentence. Do you believe they are to be exiled or executed?"_

 _Damian looked at Slade for his opinion._

 _"Don't look at me like that," he said, "Say what you have to say."_

 _He nodded and tried to sound firm as he spoke to the League and the two traitors. "These two men have threatened my grandfather's life. Something like this is unforgivable. To be fair, exile would show act of mercy but these two men deserve no mercy when it comes to betraying their leader. Therefore, for the treason and attempt of murder towards Ra's al Ghul, I sentence you both to be executed outside the courtyard immediately."_

 _And it happened just like that, the two traitors were executed outside the courtyard but not by Ra's al Ghul or Slade Wilson. There was another rule that needed to be followed in Nanda Parbat. The one who passes the sentence is the one to do the execution. Damian had to be the one to execute the traitors. Damian was nervous since he never executed anyone that was from the League. He never found himself forced to kill one of his own._

 _Instead of using a sword, Slade gave him a Neko Te glove. "You said you wanted to use it, now it's your chance. Don't shake, you're grandfather will notice."_

 _Damian nodded before walking over to the two traitors kneeled on the polished floor of the courtyard, tied, their hoods and masks taken off. They were glaring at Damian with hate. He never saw anyone stare at him like that with such hatred._

 _With two easy strides, Damian slashed the throats of both traitors and they dropped dead instantly. Damian looked up at his grandfather who sat on the balcony watching the event. Ra's smiled proudly and nodded in approval._

 _"This is what happens when you cross the great Ra's al Ghul!" Slade Wilson shouted to the rest of the League. "The next one will have a more sufferable death! Now bow down to your master!"_

 _The entire League bowed before Ra's al Ghul, including Damian, his mother Talia and his uncle Dusan. Slade placed a hand on Damian's shoulder. "You did you well. Listen and learn. That's all you need to do in our next class."_

 _"Yes, sir."_

* * *

 **Now...**

Garfield is sitting on the couch, trying to play video games with Jaime but can't seem to concentrate and it's all because of this Terra thing going on. He just can't believe it. Terra really did hurt Raven and it was on purpose. And he nearly cracked Damian's skull open when slamming him to a wall when he didn't believe him. Garfield really thought Damian was just jealous but after Raven confessed to Kori about what happened, he realized he was wrong. And now he needs to apologize to Damian for what happened last night in the hall. Right now he's not around. Either Damian is training or trying to avoid him. Maybe both.

Garfield had a crush on Terra but now she's tearing the team apart.

"Dude, come on, get your head in the game," Jaime says after his space shuttle shoots Garfield's space shuttle out of the sky. GAME OVER

Garfield sighs and tosses the controller aside. "I don't feel like playing today."

Jaime sets his controller down and turns off the video game. "I know that you liked Terra a lot. But you have to understand that if the team thinks there something wrong with her, they have to investigate her. She attacked Raven, bruh."

"I know," Garfield sighs again and runs a hand through his green hair in frustration. "But it's not just about Terra. It's about Damian. I should have believed him when he told me she attacked Raven on purpose. Instead, I threw him to a wall. He hit his head. And there was blood on the wall. I think I hurt him."

"Dude, even _I_ know that was a step too far."

"I know. I - I just want to fix it, you know. Let Damian know how sorry I am."

"Gar, even if you do apologize to Damian, it's not going to fix anything. He's still going to be pissed at you. All you can do is give him time and hopefully we'll see what happens. We all know that Damian is not the kind of man who forgives people easily."

"Yeah, I know," he sighs.

"Want to keep playing video games?" Jaime asks, hoping to cheer him up by motivating him into playing more video games.

Garfield shakes his head. "Not really in the mood for video games."

"Want a sandwich?" he asks instead.

Garfield smiles sadly at Jaime. "Peanut butter and jelly please."

* * *

Raven is sitting on her bed meditating, wearing a hoodie and a pair of black shorts. Her uniform is still in the trash after the fire incident. She misses it already. Now she'll have to go on missions with the hoodie on which will not look professional. Not only that, it will make her look stupid-er. Kori brought her breakfast, a sandwich and a mug of green tea. Just because she's ground doesn't mean she needs to starve to death. She only drank the tea but didn't eat the sandwich for she wasn't hungry. However, Raven is not allowed to leave her room for three weeks, only on missions or for an emergency meeting. Today, Kori and Victor announced they'll be having an emergency meeting at lunch time and it's Raven's obligation to be present...even if she doesn't want to.

After everything that happened yesterday, she feels like she deserves to be punished. _Damian told me so and here I am_ , she thinks. All she can do is sit, meditate, read and wait. She previously have been reading Shakespeare's _Titus Andronicus_ , one of William's most violent revenge plays of his time. It's going to be a long three boring weeks.

She hears knocking on the other side of the door. "Ring-a-ding-ding! Anyone home?" It's Felicity.

"Go away," Raven says.

"I know you didn't just tell me to go away. Open up before I kick the door down," Felicity says threateningly though Raven knows she's just playing around.

Raven opens the door with her telekinetic powers and Felicity enters the bedroom with a cocky smirk and carrying a black shopping bag in the crook of her elbow.

"Hey there, smudge," Felicity greets before throwing herself onto the bed in a bellyflop. She rolls onto her side and takes Raven's chin in her head. "Can't I get a smile out of you?"

"I don't see what I'm supposed to smile about. I'm grounded and I almost got us killed last night," she says while unfolding her legs from under her.

"I'm in one piece, aren't I? So it's not your fault," Felicity says, "Do you want to hear the good news? Damian isn't angry at you anymore. Do you want to talk to him?"

Raven shakes her head. "No. I don't want to talk to anyone right now."

"You're talking to _me_."

"That's because you threatened to kick the door down," Raven points out. Felicity simply chuckles.

"I would do it. You know I would." She then lifts up the black shopping back with the word HOT TOPIC labelled on it. "I got you something. I heard about what happened to your costume. I thought you might need a temporary replacement until you get a new one."

"I don't think I deserve gifts after last night," Raven says.

Felicity smirks. "Just shut up and open the bag."

Hesitantly, Raven takes the black bag from her hands and digs out what looks like a dark grey wooly dress-shawl with tattered details and a hood.

Raven smiles at the choice of clothing Felicity made for her. "This is cyberpunk anti-utopias. This must have cost a lot."

Felicity shrugs her shoulders. "I earn a lot of money as a hacker, remember?"

"It's very pretty," Raven says, "Kori will not be happy about this."

"Kori doesn't know yet," Felicity smirks mischievously, "It took me like five minutes to convince Robocop to take me to Hot Topic without telling Kori."

"You mean Victor?" Raven asks. The blonde hacker nods. "How did you manage to convince him?"

"Um, I sort of threatened him to take me to the shops or I'd hack into his system where he'll be dreaming of lemon parties for the rest of his life," Felicity says.

Raven frowns in response, not knowing what she's talking about. "What's a lemon party?"

Felicity's eyes widen when the question was asked but either way, she leans forward and whispers into the empath's ear. Raven's eyes nearly pop out of her sockets.

"Oh my God, no! No!" she exclaims in shock. Felicity falls back to the bed, bursting into laughter. "You're so cruel and evil, Felicity Smoak."

"I know right!" she grins.

"You're so mean," Raven mutters.

"Lighten up, will you? I wasn't really going to do it. I'm not _that_ cruel," Felicity says.

"Still, don't you think that was a bit too far?" Raven asks.

Felicity shakes her head. "Not really. I've done worse. Think of it as an act of kindness."

"If that's the act of kindness, I don't want to know what the act of cruelty is," Raven says and Felicity continues laughing. Raven laughs along with her. She hasn't had a good laugh in a long while so it's good that her dear hacker friend is hear to make her laugh and smile.

A few minutes later, Raven starts asking Felicity about her time in Star City and the question she tried to avoid asking. "You told me you had a boyfriend once in Star City and that things didn't work out between you two." Felicity stops laughing when hearing this. "What was he like?"

Felicity bites her lower lip as if thinking. "Hmm. Well, he was nice, smart, stubborn, arrogant, half-stalker and half-asshole. But I thought he was a good man. I _thought_ he was a good. Turns out I was wrong. When he found out I worked for the Green Arrow, he tried to kill me. But I already told you that."

"What happened to him afterwards, your ex-boyfriend, I mean?" she asks.

"Hmm, I really don't know. Probably moved on or dead, and I honestly don't care," Felicity says but Raven sense a lie in her tone. She can still sense heartbreak in Felicity which is a bit sad to be honest. All this time and the blonde hacker still feels pain over betrayed love. "If he dropped dead, he deserved it. Do me a favour and choose your dates wisely. Of course, you don't need to do that. You already have a man who cares about you and doesn't try to kill you in your sleep." She sighs. "I still have the scar. Do you want to see?"

Raven hesitantly nods. Felicity pulls down the left strap of her black tank top and lies down on her stomach, showing a pink livid scar on her back just near the neck and collarbone. Raven nearly gasps in shock.

"I was sleeping on my stomach when he literally stabbed me in the back," Felicity says before smirking back at her. "He missed my heart. I kicked him in the crotch before finally getting away. I almost bled to death if it wasn't for Oliver and Dinah. I did learn my lesson after that. Always sleep with one eye open and never turn your back on your enemy...Do you got a cigarette and a lighter?"

"Felicity, how many times do I have to say this? I don't smoke."

"We're having an emotional moment here and I can't get a damn cigarette around here," Felicity groans in frustration as she pulls back the strap back in place and sitting up.

Now Raven knows at least a few things about Felicity. She smokes when she's stressed out, which is always. And that she left Star City because she felt she betrayed her team for falling in love with an enemy. That's why she's here in San Francisco, to get away from her past.

* * *

 **The Common, Titans Tower**

 **11:55 a.m.**

The team are gathered in common room for an emergency meeting. The others don't know what it's about. Felicity may not be part of the team but Kori insisted for her to attend for it's very important.

They all say on the couch minus Kori and Victor who are standing in front of the team, and Felicity who's sitting on the kitchen counter with her leg crossed over the other. She asked for a pack of cigarettes but no one has any and if they did, they wouldn't allow her to smoke in the Tower. Raven sits at the far end of the couch, keeping her distance from the others as she doesn't feel in the right mood to talk to anyone. This saddens Damian a bit but as told, he tries not to hover.

"We might have a situation on our hands," Kori announces to the rest of the team while trying very hard not to scare them. "Not only is Terra unwilling to cooperate on our interrogation but there's a possibility we are being targeted."

"What do you mean by _being targeted_?" Jaime is the first one to ask.

Victor then shows a small plastic back where the bloody bullet, which was lodged in Felicity's shoulder the other night, is sealed.

"We think this is the reason," Victor speaks up, "This bullet is made of advanced technology, strong enough to incapacitate Superman even if it's not made of kryptonite -."

"Those sons of bitches nearly killed me with that piece of shit," Felicity grits bitterly while twisting back her right shoulder. It still hurt like hell. It would take weeks to heal.

"That's not the only thing that's interesting," Victor continues, "The bullet is coated with an unidentified nerve toxin made in Cadmus. Before anyone asks, it's unidentified because Cadmus never gave it a name."

"Is it similar to the nerve toxin my father used to keep himself from being possessed by Trigon?" Damian asks.

"Stronger," Victor says, "It doesn't affect humans but it _does_ affect metahumans."

"Wait, are you trying to say that the bullet that shot me was meant for Raven?" Felicity asks. The rest of the Titans nod. "What the hell, guys!?"

"Then we know that Terra must be working for someone," Dick quickly comes to the conclusion, "It's not a coincidence that Raven was being targeted at the same time Terra is being investigated. There's a pattern here. Whoever it is, knew Raven would leave the Tower and where she would go. I think we're being watched."

"I second that," Victor says.

"But why would they go after Raven?" Garfield asks in concern.

"It could have been any of us, Gar," Kori states, "Most of us have metahuman abilities. You. Jaime. Raven. Cyborg. Me. If anyone leaves this Tower, we might become a target in less than an hour -."

"Or," Damian interrupt sourly, "They know we're getting close into finding out about what Terra really is here for and they wanted Raven out of the way before we can find out anything. And she knows more than she's telling us."

They all look at Raven.

Raven can't help but look back at them no matter how hard she tried to avoid their eyes. She purses her lips and lets out a deep sigh. "I think Terra is working with two men," she tells them. "I couldn't see their faces. They are all in shadows but I think Terra must have been working for them for quite some time. Maybe for a few years. There's no telling how long they've been watching us but I believe they have been doing so for a long while. What terrifies me is that one of those two men is familiar. I think we know him from somewhere. I couldn't look any further through Terra's mind."

"I think you mentioned something of the sort while we were at the beach," Felicity points out. "Okay, so you have geokinetic psychopath contained in isolation for attacking Raven and now there were two men last night following and shooting at us last night. Why? The better question is, why you guys? I mean, I know that you have a lot of enemies outside the Tower but the difference between the criminals you deal on a daily basis and the ones we're dealing with now is that the usual criminal tries to avoid running into you guys while this one is trying to get at you from the inside out. It might some a bit farfetched but this looks like a personal matter."

"That's because it is," Dick points out, "Whoever is doing this has a personal vendetta with the Titans."

" _Or_ one of us," Jaime says.

"Or me." Everyone looks at Raven. It's no surprise she would say this. This is not the first time she blames herself for something and probably won't be the last. "Let's face it, guys. This is the second time I almost got killed. Who knows if they're simply targeting me and you are just pawns in their game, like what happened with my father."

"You can't blame yourself for something they already planned for months, or even years," Jaime says while walking over to her and placing an assuring hand on her shoulder.

"It's best to stay precautious," Kori says. "We will continue interrogating Terra."

"In the mean time," Victor says, "Search the Tower for any hidden cameras and microphones. We stick together. We do not leave the Tower alone, especially at night times. We stay in the light and out of the shadows -."

"That's a _Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle_ reference, you know?" Garfield interrupts and everyone gives him a blank expression. "Too soon."

Dick nods. "Yep." He then turns his attention to Felicity. "I know that you don't want to be on our team but could you do us a favour and get a sweep of San Francisco through the surveillance cameras to see if there's anything suspicious going on outside?"

Felicity clicks her tongue as she slides off the kitchen counter. "Depends. How much will you pay me?"

Dick sighs. "How much are you asking for?"

"300 dollars," she says. The others cringe.

"How about 200 and a few files from Batman's hard-drive?" Damian says.

"Deal," she says before heading over to the controls of the main frame, "We should do this more often."

Dick gives Damian a sharp look. "Did you seriously give Felicity Smoak access to Batman's hard-drive?"

Damian smirks. He hasn't had any feedback from Stephanie. It's a possibility she hasn't been able to decode the files from Batman's hard-drive. If anyone can hack into Batman's computer, Felicity Smoak can. He would ask Barbara Gordon but he's unsure if she'll be able to help him since she was Batgirl but worked closer to Batman than Stephanie Brown did. Damian is not willing to risk it. The deal gives him the advantage to have Felicity Smoak to decode the files he wants to see.

"Not all of them," he says to Dick with a mischievous smile.

Garfield then raises his hand up. "Quick question before we start playing CSI, Cadmus has been shut down for five years now. How did the shooters gain access for an technologically advanced bullet and nerve toxin? As far as I read, the government confiscated all of Cadmus' equipment. Unless they're being sold at the black markets, don't you think that's kind of, I don't know, weird?"

"I hate to say this but green bean is right," Felicity says while her fingers are drumming through the keyboard and different pages pop up on the screen, mostly pictures and paper clippings of Cadmus. "Project Cadmus has been shut down for five years since 2012 for using illegal experimentation on alien lifeforms and being involved with Lex Luthor to create weapons to not only control but to also restrain and eliminate any metahuman threat, that includes galactic and mystic. They were even given cute little pet names. Power brokers, criminals, black-ops, mercenaries and haters. In other words, the Board Directors were a bunch of crazies. Project Cadmus was created and funded by Lex Luthor and the members of this facility were Amanda Waller, Professor Hamilton, General Wade Eiling, Orm Marius, Professor Anthony Ivo, Maxwell Lord, Hugo Strange...Okay, who the hell are these people?"

"They're bad guys, Felicity," Dick says.

"Well, according to the papers, the U.S. government confiscated all of the equipment from Project Cadmus, including the weapons they were going to test against the Justice League," she continues informing, "So unless they're being illegally sold at the black market by the U.S. government itself, it's nearly impossible getting these weapons out legally from their underground basement. I can get run-through the merchandises at the black markets but it will have to be a very thorough search."

"How thorough?" Victor asks.

"Like Deep Web kind of thorough," she says while cracking her fingers, "Wish me luck and pray I don't run into a bunch of psychopaths while doing this. The Deep Web has all kinds of messed up crap in here."

Damian stands up from his seats and is leaving the common room. Kori is the first one to notice. "Damian, where are you going?"

"To have a chat with Terra," he says.

* * *

Damian opens the door to the interrogation room.

Terra is still sitting on the chair, her wrists cuffed to the table so she won't get up and try to escape. Thanks to S.T.A.R. Labs, the cuffs around her wrists keep her from using her abilities. Damian is wearing his Robin suit with the hood shrouded over his head. It's not conceal his identity. Tara already knows his identity somehow. But it's to assure Terra than he means serious business. He's not here to play games with her. Kori, Victor and Dick are at the other side of the one-way glass, watching, while Raven, Jaime and Garfield are searching the Tower for any hidden cameras and microphones in the Tower that can indicate they are being spied on. Kori, Victor and Dick can see Damian and Terra, but Damian and Terra can't see _them_.

Damian sits down at the opposite side of the table.

"So," Terra speaks up, "How's your girlfriend? I hear she has a headache."

"Funny coming from the person who caused the headache in the first place," Damian says in a serious tone.

"It's nothing personal. I just don't like her, just like I don't like you either. Or Kori. Or Victor. Or anyone else for that matter," she says with a relaxed smile on her face as if not worried about anything.

"I'm guessing you dislike her enough to have her chased and gunned down," Damian hisses. Terra stares at him blankly. "Last night, Raven and a woman who goes by the name Pandora were being chased and gunned by what they described as a black Jeep with tinted windows. They didn't see the shooter but the bullet they managed to removed from Pandora was made of advanced technology at Project Cadmus and was coated by a powerful nerve toxin used against metahumans -."

"And what does this have to do with me?" Terra asks.

"Raven was attacked twice, by you and now the shooter from last night," he points out, "You're working with someone, Terra. It's not a coincidence my friend gets attacked twice on the same day. The shooters, who are they and how they gained access to advanced technology from a lab that was shut down by the government five years ago?"

Terra rolls her eyes and sighs. "You see, I work for a lot of people and one of the rules is that I can't discuss my client to other people. Unless you and the others have evidence that proves I work for anyone that wants you and the rest of the Titans dead, you have nothing on me."

"Why do you hate us so much, Terra?" he asks. "As far as I'm concern, we did nothing to you. Garfield offered you a home here. Why the desire to hurt us?"

"...Because I can," she smirks, "Because I like hurting people or maybe because I envied you guys." The lens in Damian's eye-mask widen. " _Envied_ , as in past tense. Judging by what I've seen, I feel like it's a waste of time trying to kill you guys when you're already at a brink of killing each other. Starfire mother henning you death while trying to be both leader and girlfriend at the same time but failing at bother. Cyborg having daddy issues and not being able to get a girlfriend because he doesn't even have a junk between his legs anymore. Nightwing still struggling to get out of Batman's shadow and avoiding Starfire at all costs. Word of advice, if they're not going to talk about their issues, they should just break-up" At the other side of the glass, Kori looks at Dick with sorrowful eyes and Dick looks down in shame. "Beast Boy being a love-sick puppy and trying to get as much attention as possible. Blue Beetle with his bug problem. Raven and her emotional turmoil. And you, having daddy and girlfriend issues and not wanting to express your emotions. No wonder you're alone -."

Damian slams his fists against the table's surface loudly, making the others behind the glass jump in surprise and Terra flinch. The slamming was loud enough to reach outside the interrogation room. It wouldn't sound as loud if he wasn't wearing his gloves.

That slamming indicates that Damian is losing his patience. Kori feels Dick should intervene before Damian could try to strangle Terra but doesn't say anything. Interrupting the interrogation can end badly.

Instead of being afraid of Damian's loss of temper, Terra smirks. "Careful, Robin, you don't want to be put in isolation again for being aggressive like the incident at the police station. Do you?"

Damian remains staring at her sternly but inside, he's surprised. How did she know about him and Raven getting arrested, and then him being placed in isolation for beating up one of the prisoners? Dick is right. They're being watched.

"I don't know what sort of promise these people made you but I can assure you they won't deliver," Damian says. "Tell us who you're working for."

"Like I said before, you have nothing on me that proves I'm working for anyone and if I was, I wouldn't tell you," Terra sneers. "You're wasting your time."

"... _Burn the Witch_." When Damian says this, Terra's eyes instantly widen. " _She's a demon_. I heard Raven mumbling in her room last night. Those were the words she said. I know she saw something in your head. What did she mean by it?"

"...I should have killed her yesterday," Terra says darkly.

"You're not killing anyone and when we find out who you're working for, you're going to jail," Damian threatens.

Terra leans forward and hisses at the hooded boy. "You really have no idea what game we're playing at, do you?"

"What game -?"

The sound of the alarm suddenly go off and the lights immediately turn red.

" _Hey, guys_!" Felicity's voice booms through the speakers. " _We have a fire outbreak at The Castro Theatre in Eureka Valley, Castro District. So...Titans Go_... _Like right now! Now_!"

Damian looks back at Terra with a glare. "This isn't over."

She smirks. "Bite me, son of Batman."

* * *

 **The Castro District, San Francisco...**

The Castro District, is a neighborhood in Eureka Valley in San Francisco, mostly known for it's LGBT community. Apparently, having transformed from a working-class neighborhood through the 1960s and 1970s, the Castro remains one of the most prominent symbols of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender activism and events in the world.

The movie palace of the neighborhood, Castro Theatre mysteriously caught on fire with people still in the theatre, as far as Felicity (aka. Pandora) informs.

"Pandora, report," Kori calls through the coms as she and the rest of the Titans head over to the Castro Theatre, with Raven, Jaime, Garfield and Victor flying while Damian is sitting behind Dick on the motorcycle. They see the fire and people running out of the theatre screaming.

" _The is going to spread in the next 20 minutes_ ," Felicity informs through the earpieces, " _You need to get those people out of there and ASAP and keep the fire from spreading. There are a few exists. Two on front and two at back, and an extra exit behind the big screen._ _This might cost us money but you're going to have to tear that thing in half_."

"Raven," Kori calls out, "Shield the neighbourhood buildings to keep the fire from spreading. Robin and Beast Boy, go to the back of the theatre and get the rest out there. Nightwing and Blue Beetle will take the front. Cyborg, I need you to find water to put out the fire."

" _The fire department has already been notified_ ," Felicity says, " _In the mean time, try not to bring back fried chicken. Also, don't turn into fried chicken_."

"That's not very helpful, Pandora," Jaime says.

" _I never said it would_!"

Once they reach the theatre, Damian and Beast Boy run to the back of the theatre. Raven flies to the right side of the theatre where the fire started. Nightwing and Blue Beetle head for the front of the theatre to help the people out of the theatre.

Damian tries prying the backdoor of the emergency exit but it won't budge.

"The door is locked," he tells Garfield. "Can you break it down?"

The green boy nods before morphing into a rhinoceros, stepping a few feet back and charging at the door, breaking it down along with the wall. He morphs back into his human form and Damian enters the theatre afterwards.

They're both facing the theatre screen now.

"I got this," Damian says while taking out a batarang and jumps at the theatre screen, stabbing the tough white cloth with the batarang and slides down, splitting the screen in half and creating a gap.

The two run through the gap and are now standing on the stage where they see the people trying to fit through the front exits, pushing one another and screaming.

"They won't make it like that," Damian says, seeing the huge torrid fire burning the wall and spreading bigger and bigger.

"Two fires in one week. What are the odds?" Garfield says.

"Forget the odds," Damian says determinedly, "We need to get these people out of here."

Garfield puts his fingers to his mouth and blows a whistle loudly, finally getting attention of a the crowd.

"Those who are already on front can keep going!" Damian shouts, "The ones behind have to go through here! Move! Now!"

Half of the crowd came running to the direction as told. Of course, it becomes just as bad as the front, with everyone wanting to fit through the gap all at once and pushing each other forward.

"No pushing!" Damian snaps while pushing people back to allow a few to squeeze through the exit.

"Everyone, we're all going to make it!" Garfield shouts, "You need to calm down and take it easy!"

"Come on, people! Five at a time!"

Garfield spots a small girl being pushed back and knocked to the floor off the stage. She shouldn't be back here. She should be put through first. Garfield quickly moved running, picking the girl up from the floor. "I don't know who your parents are but they are the worst."

A cracking sound is sound. When Garfield looks up, he sees the fire spreading through the roof and one of them beams breaking off. Garfield quickly puts the girl on the stage when the beam breaks off and falls, crushing Garfield to the floor. He cries out in pain.

"Beast Boy!" Damian shouts out.

"Get them out of here, Robin!" Garfield shouts back.

Damian grabs the child and gives her to one of the remaining crowd. "Take her and go! Keep moving! No pushing!"

He then goes back for Garfield. This is something that happened to Raven a few days ago at the orphanage where a beam crushed her leg and broke it in half. However, the beam broke the Garfield's lower spine.

Damian grabs Garfield by the arm and tries to pull him out from under the beam. This only makes Garfield cry out in pain.

"Ow, ow, that hurts! I can't feel my legs!" he shouts.

"You're going to have to help me if we're getting out of here!" Damian says, "Just because I'm mad doesn't mean I'm leaving you here to burn! Come on!"

Garfield nods and helps Damian push the beam off his back even if the hot wood is burning the palms of their hands. Once the beam is finally off Garfield, Damian lifts him up from the floor and practically carries him out of the theatre.

"My knight and shining armor," Garfield laughs painfully.

"Oh, shut up," Damian groans in annoyance.

After the people are taken out of the building and the fire is put out, the team meet up with each other in front of the theatre. Raven had difficulty trying to keep the contain the fire, keeping it away from the neighbouring buildings, even got a bloody nose in the process but she managed. She heals Garfield's broken back which was an exhausting process for her and a painful one for him. Dick, Kori and Blue Beetle managed to get of the people out of the theater. And Cyborg put out the fire by using his cannon arm as a hose. Everyone is safe. The theatre is still burned but at least it didn't burn down to the ground. It would need repairs and the Titans will make sure the theatre is fixed and good as new again.

Garfield looks over at Damian who practically saved his life and didn't let him burn in the fire, even after what happened at the Tower. 'Hey, dude," he says. Damian turns around to face him, "No hard feelings, right?"

Damian frowns at him and folds his arms. "My head still hurts and probably will for the next few days," he says before stretching out his hand and offering Garfield a small smile. Garfield smiles broadly before taking Damian's hand and shakes it. "I'm still going to hit you after this." Garfield gulps but nods in agreement.

" _Aw, that's so sweet...I think,_ " Felicity coos teasingly through the coms. " _Hey, Robin Hood, don't you have a girlfriend to fix your problems with right now_?"

Damian looks over to where Raven is, healing the burns of the people from the fire. It's going to take a while for an ambulance to arrive and it's best to get to instead of waiting for too long. Damian lets out a sigh.

" _Robin, seriously, you said you wanted to talk to her, now's your chance_ ," Felicity says irritably, " _Move your ass_."

Damian sighs once more and walks over to Raven who just recently healed a ten-year-old who had a second degree burn on her forearm. Raven is looking pale right now, probably getting drained from all the healing.

Damian places his hand on her shoulder and she looks over her shoulder. "Hey."

"Hey yourself," she says.

"Do you think we can talk...Alone?" he asks.

"I'm kind of busy right now, Robin," she says, "These people need healing."

Damian smiles at her. "At least let me help you. Besides, you look like you can use a hand."

Raven slowly smiles at him in return. "Sure."

The two smile at each other. " _That's one way to apologize_ ," Felicity interrupts the silence.

Damian suddenly looks up to his left and his eyes widen before returning his attention to Raven. "Look out!" he yells as he pushes her back and he falls to the ground unconscious.

It happened so quickly that it made everyone confused. No one heard any gunshots and no one saw who pulled the trigger. All they see is Damian drop to the ground with a bloody bullethole on his back and Raven screaming in horror.

"Damian!" she shrieks as she runs to his side and turns him so he's lying on his back. "DAMIAN!"

* * *

Slade watches the entire event through the hacked surveillance cameras. He watches the Titans put out the fire he had started. He sees Damian talking to Raven like school boy talking to a girl for the first time, which is something new. Slade then smirks wickedly when Damian pushed Raven put of the way as he got shot. He then sees Raven scream in terror at the sight of Damian on the ground unconscious. How impressive it was to see Raven's concern for the boy. Phase 1 of Slade's plan is done. Now it's time to begin Phase 2.

 _Save the screams for later, dear_.

* * *

 _ **10 years ago...**_

" _Damian is not ready to take your place yet, Ra's," Slade commented. He and Ra's were having a meeting. Ra's had already promised Slade that he would be the successor if anything happened to Ra's. But now that Damian was born, Ra's decided to pass it on to his grandson instead, something Slade clearly wasn't happy about. "He's too young to take command of the League. He barely even knows the names of the weapons we have, just half of them."_

 _"It's tradition for us to pass our heritage to our descendants, Mr. Wilson," Ra's said sternly, "And since my grandson is already here, we have our true successor. I know how much you wanted this position but understand that this is how it's supposed to be. As the master of the League, it is my obligation to pass on tradition, to give what I have to my heirs once I'm gone. You were my heir because you have been loyal to me for so long and I thank you for it as a friend but as the leader of the League of Assassins, I have to make Damian my successor."_

 _Slade nodded. "As your friend, I would agree that this would be the best but I would still say Damian is too young to take your place. I overheard that you and Talia are going to take him to climb a mountain. He's going to break his bones, you know."_

 _"It's meant to make him stronger, Slade. I know the risks," Ra's says while stirring his tea._

 _"You're going to end up killing him," Slade said. Damian was too young to take Ra's place and was certainly too young to climb a freaking mountain, not mention skinny with frail bones that could easily snap like a twig._

 _"It's interesting to see how you pretend to care for my grandson, Slade," Ra's chuckled as he took a sip of his tea. "There's no need to pretend here, my friend. You can admit to me that you dislike him. You give him that look every time you need to teach him."_

 _"I hate the fact that you're breaking the promise you made before the boy was born, Ra's," Slade said with a hint of anger in his voice. "And the fact you're giving your position to a child that still has no training, who's just starting to throw a punch. Perhaps it would make sense if he were older but he is not ready for something like this. Not yet."_

 _"And you are?" Ra's asked._

 _"As your right hand, I've been on your side for many years, just like your son Dusan and your daughter Talia," Slade said._

 _"My second daughter Nyssa abandoned me," Ra's said bitterly._

 _Slade heard the story of how Ra's illegitimate daughter Nyssa Raatko left Nanda Parbat. Nyssa was disenchanted with Ra's genocidal plans to "cleanse the Earth", and disassociated herself from her father. Ra's reluctantly approved this, believing that she would return to him and she or her children would become his future heirs. But Nyssa refused to give herself or her family to him, causing him to disown her permanently. He did however allow her to keep a Lazarus Pit for herself and, much to his surprise, she found a way to reuse it, allowing her to survive for now. Slade knew that he didn't like talking about it._

 _"And do you really think I'd abandon you, Ra's?" he asked._

 _"You tell me, Slade," Ra's pushed on, "You're the one who wants to take my place instead of the boy. It makes me doubt my trust in you."_

 _"You question my loyalty? How dare you?" Slade snapped._

 _"How dare **you** make demands of me? I try to follow tradition as it should be and you're questioning my decision over a small insignificant promise I made to you," Ra's snapped back angrily. "You're my right hand, Slade. You're here to serve, to advice, to protect and fight by my side, not to question my decisions and methods." _

_"I have the right to question your decision, Ra's," Slade said, "because you're not training the boy to be a fighter. You're training him to be a leader. In fact, you're not training him at all. I'm the one who does it for you. He doesn't have the age or the capacity to lead the League of Assassins. Instead, the only thing he'll be growing into is a tyrannical brat without a clue of the real world. If you want your grandson to be the next Ra's al Ghul, you'll have to make him work for it, not give it to him on a silver platter."_

 _Just because Damian was next in line to take his grandfather's place in the League of Assassins, it didn't mean that he was royalty. That was something Slade wanted Ra's to understand. Ra's made him a promise and he should have kept his part of the bargain. If something like this was going to happen, Ra's shouldn't have made that promise. Also, Slade was right about one thing. Damian wasn't ready to lead yet. He was only a child. He was still training. Still learning the names of the weapons. And never saw the outside world and never interacted with the rest of the League much. How did Ra's expect Damian to lead if they kept him isolated from the rest of the world? How come Ra's, Dusan and Talia get to travel the rest of the world on business and leave the boy behind. Slade was always the one staying behind to keep mentoring the boy but mostly not to leave him alone. The first time it happened (when Damian was ten months old), he threw a tantrum and cried until he fell asleep. Slade simply sat in a corner reading, letting the tantrum be until Damian grew tired of crying. Unlike Ra's or Talia, Slade didn't respond to the boy's tantrum, not wanting to give him any satisfaction. He had to learn that crying or throwing tantrums wouldn't get Damian anywhere._

 _Ra's al Ghul would still be in command even with his successor taking his place. Even if it was temporary, Ra's should have kept his promise, not push him out like an undesired bastard. Maybe he could do it to Dusan but not to him, not the man who stood by the old man's side for many years. And all this over a boy who wasn't ready to lead the League and Ra's selfishness and determination to make the boy ready and worthy for the role of leader **way** too soon. _

_Ra's immediately stood up from his sitting position. "This discussion is over. I will not waste my time arguing with you. Now leave."_

 _"Fine," Slade growled angrily, "Have it your way."_

 _Just as he left the room, he found Damian standing right outside, staring up at him with a bewildered look on his small face._

 _"Shit," Slade muttered. Damian clearly heard everything Slade and Ra's were talking about. Damian took Slade's lesson to his own advantage to eavesdrop. "I think I taught you too well. You should have listened to this."_

 _Slade didn't confront Damian about the whole thing. Instead, he just walked away from his student while Damian watched in confusion. The boy only came looking for him to continue their classes since Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays were Slade's turn to teach, only for Damian to his uncle Dusan taking the mentorship today, much to the boy's displeasure. Damian went searching for his scheduled mentor only for him to stumble upon the two men's angry conversation._

 _Damian was holding a book that day. The book they were going to read to help the boy perfect his English language. **Titus Andronicus.**_

* * *

 **So, what do you guys think of this chapter and the flashback? Too long? Let me know in the comments.**


	16. Chapter 14: Seizure

**I don't know if this is my best chapter since it seems a bit rushed. I've done better. It's been a long while since I wrote another chapter for this fanfic. Sorry for the delay. I hope you guys like it.**

 **This is going to weird people out a little but this involve the live-action fancast of Damian Wayne. They keep considering either Asa Butterfield, David Mazouz or some few American child actors (not saying all of them) but some forget one thing...Damian is part Arabic.**

* * *

 _ **10 years ago**_

 _ **Nanda Parbat...**_

 _"Nothing says like a good morning than seeing the children fighting during training," Dusan said to Slade as they both stood at the balcony, looking down at the two kids Damian and Mara fighting on the courtyard._

 _"All I see is Damian getting the crap beaten out of him by your daughter, Dusan," Slade pointed out while watching Dusan's daughter Mara pinning Damian to the ground and slapping him in the face repeatedly. It's an unfair fight and both Slade and Dusan know it. Damian was three years old while Mara was seven and more experienced. It was obvious Damian was going to get his ass kid on his first day of training. However, Mara was taking it too far. She was enjoying herself too much slapping the hell out of Damian._

 _"Do you think we should tell her to stop?" Dusan asked._

 _Slade didn't answer. He simply continued watching Mara beating Damian while the boy was shielding his face with his forearms while crying out. The stupid boy hesitated when Maya lunged at him. He was thinking instead of acting. That was his first mistake. Damian's second mistake was letting Mara take the upper hand. Slade thought he should allow Mara al Ghul to continue beating Damian so he could learn of lesson._

 _This was something Slade thought while still thinking about Ra's told him. His plans of having Damian to be the next Ra's al Ghul instead of Slade infuriated the soon-to-be mercenary. Ra's was breaking his promise. Slade was by his side for many years and it wasn't fair. Not only that, Damian wasn't ready to be the next Ra's al Ghul. The boy was too young and small. He was still learning how to fight and could barely hurt a fly yet. Damian didn't have the age or the capacity to lead the League of Assassins. Again, if something like this was going to happen, Ra's shouldn't have made the promise in the first place. Ra's was pushing Slade out. And things haven't been quite the same after that. Being Damian's mentor had become quieter and somewhat more hostile. Slade barely looked at Damian during class and only spoke to him when necessary. Damian was always confused now, not knowing why Slade would act this way. Was he really mad at Damian? Or the fact that Ra's broke his promise and was now taking out his anger on a three-year-old boy?_

 _"Mara al Ghul!" Slade called out, halting Mara, "That's enough. Let him go."_

 _Growling in annoyance, Mara got off Damian and the boy quickly scrambled back to his feet. He already had a bloody nose and a busted lip. And there would most likely be a black eye later. Both Mara and Damian stood next to each other and bowed before their mentors._

 _"Well done, Mara," Dusan congratulated his daughter, "Excellent as always."_

 _"Thank you, Father," Mara said._

 _Damian didn't say anything as he noticed Slade staring down at him coldly._

 _"Meet me back at the class, Damian," Slade said, "We'll talk."_

 _Damian did as told and returned to the class where he was met with a very disappointed Slade Wilson._

 _"What the hell was that!?" Slade snapped at him angrily, "You let yourself get beaten! You hesitated, you let Mara take the upper hand and she nearly beat you to a pulp!"_

 _"Forgive me for your disappointment, sir," Damian apologized, "I was just -."_

 _"You were simply what? Thinking? You don't think during a fight! You act! You should have already known what you were supposed to do the moment you stepped into that courtyard but you didn't! You weren't listening and -."_

 _"Why are you yelling at me!?" Damian finally snapped, not being to take anymore of the angry. "I didn't do anything wrong! I tried doing everything you said but it's not enough for you, isn't it!? Why are you angry at me!? What did I do -!?"_

 _"Don't yell at me, kid!" Slade snapped._

 _Damian remained frowning at Slade, pouting like the child that he was. A mistake that Slade made ten years ago was that Damian didn't know he would end up being the next Ra's al Ghul to this day. It wasn't a choice Damian made as a child. It was all Ra's al Ghul's idea of having grandson being the next leader of the League of Assassins. Damian was simply a pawn of both Talia and Ra's, manipulated and having his mind warped into wanting to take his grandfather's place. And being child made it easier for Ra's and Talia. Slade knew this even before yet he didn't do anything about it. That was his second mistake._

 _"You yelled at me first...Was it because of Grandfather that you're angry with me?" Damian asked._

 _Slade simply sighed but didn't say anything to him._

 _"I know why," Damian said anxiously, "I know you think I'm not ready to take Grandfather's place." Slade was wrong. Damian didn't hear everything he and Ra's were talking about. He only heard part of it. "But I am. I'm ready to take Grandfather's place. I'm ready to be the next Ra's al Ghul if you just let me."_

 _"Don't be stupid, kid," Slade hissed._

 _"Why? I know that I'm still a kid but I can learn," Damian said. He looked like he was about to throw another tantrum. "You can teach me how to be the next Ra's al Ghul. You're my mentor. You're supposed to teach me -."_

 _Slade was already losing his patience with the boy. "Enough -."_

 _"No! I'm tired of you being mad at me. I'm going to be the next Ra's al Ghul just like Grandfather and you have to help me be like him. Please!" Damian practically begged._

 _"No," Slade said._

 _"But -."_

 _"I said no!" Slade snapped back, "You're not ready to be the next Ra's al Ghul and you'll never be the next Ra's al Ghul, not like this!"_

 _"Yes, I will," Damian said._

 _"No, you won't."_

 _"Yes, I will!"_

 _"No you won't!" Slade yelled._

 _"YES I WILL!" Damian screamed._

 _He panted after screaming at Slade. Slade remained silent while watching Damian finish his temper tantrum. It wasn't new to him. However, Damian looked pale and in pain._

 _Blood dripped from Damian's nose, much to Slade's surprise, and the boy suddenly dropped to the floor convulsing violently._

 _"Damian!"_

 _It happened too quickly. At that moment, Slade didn't think of his anger towards Ra's al Ghul or Damian. Back then he didn't see him as an enemy, he saw him as just a boy and he was having some sort of epileptic seizure. He called for help. Talia and Dusan took Damian to the underground labs to have him attended. He should have been taken to a hospital, not the labs, if there were a hospital near Nanda Parbat, that is. But it looked like there wasn't much choice._

 _Ra's al Ghul and Slade watched Damian lying on the metal table, through a one-way glass, with a respiratory mask on his face, the heart rate monitor beating and a doctors attending him to find out what caused Damian to collapse._

 _Slade glared at Ra's furiously. "Congratulations, Ra's, your perfect soldier isn't as perfect as you wanted him to," he hissed. "You want him to take your place? He's sick. He's not ready and you know it." He then stormed away from the operating room._

* * *

Damian is now in the operating table after being taken to a hospital immediately by Kori. It was chaos. Once Damian got shot and Raven screamed, the people they took out from the fire began shouting and running in all directions.

Victor had to keep Raven restrained in the waiting room, to keep her from going into the operating room as Damian was taken to surgery to remove the bullet from his upper back where it struck. She's not in her right head at the moment. She won't stop sob profusely.

Raven is sitting in the hallway, curled up next to a vending machine, sobbing quietly. Kori sits down next to her and holds her tightly in an embrace.

"Raven, Damian is going to be all right," Kori assures her as Raven continues sobbing.

"You don't know that, do you?" Raven questions, her eyes tearful, red and bloodshot.

Kori shakes her head, not knowing what else to say to her mourning friend.

Hours later, their friend Dr. Karen Beecher, once known as Bumblebee, approaches the Titans in the waiting room and doesn't look like she has good news for them, judging by the concerned look on her face.

Kori is the first one to ask about Damian's well-being. "Please tell me he's all right, Karen."

Karen sighs. "I really wish I can say yes but Damian is in a very critical condition. The bullet missed his heart but it damaged some of his main arteries. He was lucky he didn't bleed to death. We were able to stabilize him but he remains in observation in the ER."

"Can we see him?" Raven askswith pleading eyes.

"I'm sorry, honey," Karen apologizes, "but I can only allow family members at the moment.

Dick then appears with his arms crossed, his frown showing frustration and concern as well. "His father is away in Gotham for awhile. He left me and Kori in charge of him."

"I recommend you give him a call, Dick," Karen tells him as an advice, "He needs to be notified. Also, there are some other things I'm concerned about that we need to discuss."

Dick nods in agreement. "I think I know what you mean. I'll let Bruce know. Thanks, Karen and please let us know when we can see Damian."

"I'll do my best," she says before disappearing in the white corridors.

Kori looks at Dick at this point with a confused expression on her face. "What did she mean by other things to discuss?" He doesn't answer her immediately. "Dick, is there something you want to tell me?"

Dick sighs, knowing that this day would come sooner or later. "Yes. But I promised Bruce I wouldn't say anything yet. We'll talk about this when he gets here. Okay?"

"If it's something that can be life-threatening to Damian, I don't think it should be left for later," Kori says with her arms crossed, frowning at him sternly. Damian's life is in jeopardy and Dick is keeping something about Damian's health from the team.

"It's not like I wanted this to happen, Kori. None of us did," he says before taking out his cellphone. "I'm going to call Bruce."

Once he leaves to the other side of the waiting room to talk to Bruce, Kori turns her attention to Raven, who was really disappointed in not being allowed to see Damian yet. "I think it's best if you and the others head back to the Tower. Karen will let us know if Damian is all right."

"I want to bring him a few things from the Tower," Raven requests. "Please."

"Okay," Kori agrees with her.

Raven would bring him some civilian clothes, including his red sweatshirt, blankets and some snacks since the hospital food here is terrible. But first, she needs to take care of something once they get back to the Tower.

* * *

Terra is sitting in her prison cell, playing with the cuffs around her wrist and trying to find a way to get the handcuffs from her wrist when she's suddenly punched in the face and knocked down to the floor. When she looks up, she finds Raven standing over her with an angry expression on her face.

"What the hell!?" Terra snaps.

Raven then tackles Terra to the floor again and starts throwing more punches to her face, not caring if she was screaming at Raven to stop. Victor and Felicity barge into the interrogation room the moment they see the events happening on the other side of the one-way glass. Victor grabs Raven and pulls her off Terra.

"Raven, stop!" he shouts while dragging Raven away.

"Get her away from me!" Terra yells, "She's crazy!"

"I'll kill her! I'll kill her myself for what happened to Damian!" Raven yells back as she continues to struggle out of Victor's hold to no avail. She can use her magic but it's not worth hurting her friend over.

Felicity stands between the two girls, facing Raven and cupping her face to calm her down. "Raven, honey, no! What did I tell you about hitting the suspects without any possible evidence that they were involved?"

"What?" she asks.

"I go _first_ ," Felicity hisses before quickly turning around and punching Terra hard in the mouth, knocking her down to the floor once more. "Bitch."

Victor lets go of Raven and grabs Felicity by the arm. "Hey, whoa, Felicity, take it easy! Don't really hurt her!"

Felicity turns sharply to face Victor with a darkened glare. "Robin was shot saving Raven. It's obvious that this psychopathic booty-short wearing bitch ass had something to do with it. Get your heads out of your asses and deal with it."

"We _are_ dealing with it," he says.

Felicity raises an eyebrow and folds her arms over her chest. "Really? Because Damian is still in the hospital and we still don't have answers to who Terra is working for."

"Maybe we should all get out of this room and take a breath. Not you," Victor says to Terra before he, Raven and Felicity walk out of the interrogation room. "You can't just go around punching people in the face," he says to them both.

"Damian is dying," Raven says.

"I know that, Raven," Victor says. "But attacking Terra is not going to solve anything."

Felicity simply shakes her head and rolls her eyes before walking down the hallway. Victor simply stares in confusion. _What the hell is wrong with her?_

"She's drunk, isn't she?" he asks.

Raven nods. "Ye _p_."

Victor puts a hand on her shoulder to assure her. "Listen, we're going to find the guy who did this but you need to remain calm. Attacking Terra is not going to solve anything."

"It's my fault Damian is in the hospital," she says, "I can't just sit around waiting for the bastard to reappear."

"But you can't just start throwing punches at people out of the blue either," he says, "Go to Damian's room and get his stuff. Maybe that will ease your mind."

Raven lets out a sigh and nods in agreement. "Fine," she says before going down the hallway herself.

Felicity searches through the kitchen cabinets for a bottle of wine or anything alcoholic. She believes it can relieve her from the stress.

"The Titans aren't allowed to drink so you're not going to find any alcohol," Victor says as he enters the kitchen and watches her rummage through the cabinets and drawers.

"Not a single person in this tower has wine, vodka or even a damn beer," she mutters irritably, slamming a drawer in frustration.

Victor shakes his head. "We have to treat their bodies like a temple," he says.

"Thanks for indirectly telling me I treat my body like trash, Mr. Stone," she mutters without looking at him.

Victor folds his mechanical arms over his chest. "You know, when the Green Arrow recommended you to us, he described you to be a lot nicer than this."

"Well, the Green Arrow is wrong," she growls while opening the refrigerator, "I stopped being nice the day my boyfriend tried to kill me. _Ex_ -boyfriend now."

"I think it started _way_ before that," he says. Felicity stops cold in her tracks, "Green Arrow told me that you've been having your own troubles before that whole love affair gone wrong. You were going to a lot clubs and you were drinking a lot. He also mentioned that SCPD arrested you for drunk driving."

"Oliver should mind his damn business then," she mutters bitterly.

"What happened to you? What turned you into this?" he asks in concern.

Felicity slams the refrigerator door shut. " _This_ ," she points to herself, " _Is_ the real me. A drunk, cyber punk crackheaded nutcase who doesn't give a shit about anything anymore. The old me was a pathetic ponytailed bitch who had to sit behind a computer and watch people die day after day without doing shit about it because I was only relied on my computer hacking skills and they still talked shit behind my back for being too whiny or too bitchy when I had the right to be bitchy and whiny because I felt I couldn't do anything right and people die because I couldn't get shit done correctly."

"Green Arrow said you saved thousands of lives," Victor says.

"And I killed _hundreds_ more," she says, "I wanted to do so much more. I wanted to save lives, not just behind a computer but in the field as well. But I couldn't do that. I can't fight as well as I punch someone in the face. I can't take down a foe like I can take down a computer virus. What's the point of having me on the team if I can't kick ass like you guys? I mean, Oracle can do and she's in a wheelchair. So why can't I?"

"Is that why you were drinking a lot before leaving Star City, because you felt useless in the team?" he asks.

"In short terms, _yes_ ," she says, sounding a lot calmer now, "I thought I found a purpose when I joined the Team Arrow. I was wrong. Then I thought the same thing when I found the love of my life but I spoke too soon. I messed up everything in my life. My job. My career. My trust with the Green Arrow. My relationship. The moment I got out of the hospital after the incident, I packed what I could. I burned my old clothes, cut my hair off, bought a car on Craigslist in cash, cancelled my old credit cards, disconnected my old phone, deleted my social media accounts and disappeared from Star City. I stopped wearing those damn sensible nerd clothing and delved into the darker side, and started my life all over again."

"Yet, Green Arrow managed to find you," Victor says.

"Oliver always manages to find me," she lets out a fake chuckle. "The only thing I didn't change was my name."

"Pandora, or Felicity. Can I call you _Felicity_?" he says cautiously, "I know that you've had a rough past but I don't think blaming yourself, self-loathing and fighting against people that are being nice to you is going to help you in anything."

Felicity shakes her head in denial. "It's the only thing I know. I have nothing else to give."

"If you're a failure like you say, why would Green Arrow have us work with you," Victor says. She does nothing but stare "So far, you've helped us save lives in more ways than we can. I'd hate to disappoint you but you're not really useless. But you're not well. You're sick. All this drinking, smoking, anger, going batshit crazy and self-loathing, that's not good for you. At all. You need help. _Professional_ help."

"I don't _want_ help," she hisses at him.

"No, of course you don't. But you _need_ it," he says, "You're good at giving Raven advice. Why can't you follow your own?

"It's too late for me," she says while shaking her head in refusal.

"I don't think it's ever too late. You're just too scared."

"Scared doesn't even cover it," she says.

Victor simply stares at her. Felicity Smoak is definitely an unstable self-loathing sociopath. It makes him wonder why Raven is still friends with her. But despite of it all, Victor does feel bad for her. She probably was nicer back then but looks like all the weight she had on her shoulders back in Star City made her insane to a point she'll pick a fight with almost anyone. This woman really needs help. "There's a pack of Coke in the fridge," he says "I think caffeine will work better than alcohol right now."

He walks over to her, opens the refrigerator door and digs through it into he finds a can of Coke and hands it over to her

Felicity looks at the can for a moment before looking back at the mechanical Titan. "...This is diet Coke," she chuckles, "I _hate_ diet Coke."

He pats her on the back. "Too bad. I'm taking Raven back to the hospital. Please don't smoke anything...or drink. In fact, don't even move from the computer room."

She rolls her eyes before walking out of the kitchen and heads back to the computer room. "Fine, Papa Legba."

"Okay, now that's racist."

For those who do not know this, Papa Legba is a loa from Haitian Vodou who serves as the intermediary between the loa and humanity. He stands at a spiritual crossroads and gives and/or denies permission to speak with the spirits, and is believed to speak all human languages. Legba facilitates communication, speech, and understanding. Loa are spirits of Haitian Vodou or Louisiana voodoo.

However, Felicity is surely referring to Papa Legba from _American Horror Story: Coven_. Technically, she just called Victor a black crossroad demon. How rude!

* * *

After collecting a few of Damian's things, Raven and Victor return to the hospital where, surprise surprise, they are met with Batman under the guise of Bruce Wayne and he looks really upset.

"I'm not asking you again, Kori, what _happened_ to my son?" Bruce asks harshly.

"Damian was shot. We don't know how it happened," Kori tells him though that doesn't seem to make things any better. He still looks angry. He doesn't have any right to be angry with Kori. No one saw how it happened. They only saw Damian collapse to the ground unconscious with a bloody bullethole on his back and Raven screaming. Things went crazy after that.

"And no one saw anything!?"

"Bruce, take it easy!" Raven watches as Dick unsuccessfully tries to calm Bruce down. "There was a fire. We were saving lives. There were too many people. No one heard or saw anything. It just came out of nowhere. It's not Kori's fault."

"If I recall it, Dick, Kori was in charge," Bruce snaps at him, "It's her responsibility to watch over Damian so it is her fault."

That's it. Raven instantly steps in front of Bruce, not being able to take it anymore. She's not going to let Bruce talk to Kori that way. She doesn't care if he's the Batman. "Maybe instead of blaming Kori, you should try and help us catch the man who shot Damian. The last thing he would want is for us to be fighting."

"Maybe you should mind your own business, Raven," Bruce says harshly.

"...Damian _is_ my business," she says. "The shot was meant for me, not him. So it's my responsibility whether you like it or not."

That finally shuts Bruce up as Karen returns. They are all waiting for the results.

"To our surprise, Damian is awake," she says to Bruce, Kori, Dick, Victor and Raven. Jaime and Garfield are back at the Tower with Felicity Smoak. She's stuck with babysitting duty while trying to find any leads on Damian's shooter, scanning the entire city hacking into every surveillance camera she can find until she gets the right one located near the theatre where Damian got shot. "We expected him to sleep for a day or two but he seems to be a very strong kid."

"He's as stubborn as his dad," Dick says. Inside, he's relieved that Damian is awake and still alive.

"Karen, is there any chance we can see him?" Kori asks.

"I can only allow one person at the moment," she says before turning her attention to Bruce, "I need to have a word with you, Mr. Wayne. In private."

Bruce looks at the rest of them before finally nodding in agreement and they both walk to the other side of the waiting room so the Titans can't hear them.

* * *

Damian is lying on the hospital bed, looking up at the ceiling in boredom when he hears someone walk in. He slowly sits up since his back hurts...a lot. It's Raven. She's standing at the foot of the bed, looking more pale than it should and her eyes a reddish. But she still smiles at him.

"Hey," she says.

"Hey," Damian croaks, his throat still sore.

"The doctors say they can only allow one visitor for today," she says as she makes her way around the bed and sits down next to him on a plastic chair. "Kori let me go first. How are you feeling?"

Damian groans while his hand reaches for his back. "It hurts when I move. And it itches. Who the hell stitched it up?"

"Dr. Karen Beecher," Raven says, "She's an old friend of Dick's and Kori's."

"Karen Beecher? You mean Bumblebee?" he says. Raven frowns at him.

"How did you know she used to be Bumblebee?" she asks.

"I looked her up when I first joined the team," he says, "Her abilities and current action with the Titans proved promising. Though her operating skills are still in question."

Raven smiles at this and rolls her eyes. "Same old Damian."

Tears start to form in her eyes again. Worried, Damian places a hand on her shoulders. Raven tries to wipe her tears away but more seem to come out and her nose is now red.

She looks at him tearfully. "I thought you were going to die."

"I'm alive, aren't I?" Damian smiles at her. She nods and puts her arms around him, careful not to hurt the wound on his back. He hugs her in return.

* * *

Bruce and Dick drive over to the scene where Damian was shot. When they arrive, Dick describes the burnt theatre to look like the Overlook Hotel from the miniseries of the Stephen King's novel after the boiler blew it up. But Bruce doesn't take the joke too kindly. He's not here for jokes.

"Where was he shot?" he asks.

"Over there," Dick points at the spot a few feet away from them, "15 paces away from the theatre and 8 feet away from the team to the left and 3 feet from the victims to the right. Kori may be naïve with a few things from earth but sure knows Math, including measurements. Trust me. I know from experience."

"This isn't a joke, Dick," Bruce snaps at him.

"I know it's not," Dick says sternly, "I'm scared to death for Damian too, you know."

"Is this where it happened?" Bruce asks, now standing at the spot where Damian was shot. There's blood here. Kori's calculations were correct.

"Yeah. She says that he and Raven were talking when he got shot," Dick explains.

They both look around for anything suspicious. Apparently the shot came from above, from the sky. That's an exaggeration. She probably means that the shot came from the rooftop. A sniper, probably. A good one. Bruce knows that there's only one person that can shoot from a far range and that is Floyd Lawton/Deadshot. However, Alfred just informed him that Deadshot is still locked in Belle Reve so it can't possibly be him.

Bruce looks down at the blood on the ground, his son's blood. He wonders how he let this happen, how he allowed his son to get hurt like this. Bruce considers taking him back to Gotham after he recovers. It's necessary, even if Damian wants it or not. It's for his own good. There are other things Bruce is more worried about than a simply gunshot wound.

A light suddenly shine in Bruce's face. His turns his head away as the light nearly blinds him.

"You okay, Bruce?"

Bruce blinks a couple of times before looking back at Dick who is now standing right in front of him. Bruce doesn't answer him as he looks around for the source of the light. That's when he spots a small mirror just a few buildings away behind the burning theatre, the sunlight reflecting upon it.

"That mirror," Bruce points at it, "Do you see it?"

"From this angle? Not really," Dick says. He only manages to spot the mirror when he turns to stand in the same spot Bruce is standing. "Now I see it? Why are you asking?"

"What was Damian doing when the shot happened?" Bruce asks.

"He was talking to Raven," Dick explains.

"And where was Raven standing?"

Dick positions himself in front of Bruce. "Right here? In front of him."

"In front of him at an angle where only Damian could see it, not her," Bruce says as he proceeds staring at the mirror attentively before looking back at Dick. "I think I know what happened. We need to get back to the hospital and fast."

* * *

Raven is sitting next to Damian's bed, holding his hand tightly while watching him trying to eat the green gelatin the nurse gave him. Raven is making sure he eats it despite the disgusted faces he makes while doing so.

"The food here is gross," he says.

"You need to eat if you want to get back on the field," she says.

"You try eating it then," he protests.

Raven shakes her head in refusal and chuckles. "No thank you, I already know what it tastes like."

"Eat it," he demands while putting the spoon near her mouth. Raven quickly swats it away and they both laugh. She's not going to eat disgusting hospital food.

However, when they see Bruce and Dick enter the hospital room, they stop laughing. Raven and Damian can tell that neither Bruce or Dick look happy. They look pretty angry.

"You," Bruce points at Raven sternly, "Get away from my son."

Raven and Damian look at each other in shock before looking back at Bruce and Dick.

"What?" Raven asks.

"Raven, the shot wasn't meant for you," Dick explains calmly. The whole _good cop bad cop_ crap. "It was for Damian. You were being used as bait and he got shot pushing you out of the way. The attacker knows you're the closest thing to him and will be using you to get to him. "

"That's absurd!" Damian says with an angry frown.

"It's no coincidence that this happened twice,' Dick says, "Think about it. The fire. The car chase at the beach. And now this. The shot was aimed at her for you to save her and get hurt in the process."

"Why are they targeting me?" Damian asks, "Who is it? What do they want with me?"

"We don't know," Dick answers, shaking his head, "But we'll find out . In the meantime, you and Raven have to stay away from each other. Damian, you're going back to Gotham."

Raven's eyes widen at mention of being taken away. "What? No!" Batman and the rest of the Justice League wanted to take Raven away when her father tried to destroy the world. Now Batman wants to take Damian away. She can't allow it.

Damian also objects to this. "No! Father you can't do this!" he snaps angrily, "This is not her fault!"

"Please don't do this," she begs quietly, her eyes watering again.

"We don't have much of a choice."

"Yes you do," she says, "Please don't take him away. We can keep him safe. It's what the Teen Titans are meant to do, keep each other safe from enemies."

"I can stay at the Tower and not leave until you catch whoever is trying to kill me," Damian practically begs. He never begs. This is surprising for both Bruce and Dick. "But I don't want to go back to Gotham. Please Father. This is my home."

Bruce simply stares at Damian, impressed by his words. They were loud and clear. Titans Tower is his home, not Gotham. The Teen Titans are his family. He's happy here. Will Bruce be cruel enough to take that happiness away just to protect him from the attacker and his bad health? He can't be this cruel, especially to his own son who already learned to make friends and is obviously in love with Raven.

"I'm sorry, guys," Dick apologizes. Raven responds by sobbing and pressing her face against Damian's shoulder.

Damian remains glaring at his father. What he's doing is complete wrong. "But Father isn't. He hates Raven. Always thought she was a threat to me and always will. He's just using this as an excuse to keep me away from her."

"It has nothing to do with that, Damian!" Bruce snaps angrily.

"Yes it does!" Damian shouts.

"No, it doesn't!"

"YES IT DOES!" he screams.

"This is _not_ about Raven! This about _you_! You're hurt! You're sick! And I'm not letting my own son die here of a heart failure because he prefers to...!" Bruce shouts angrily at him but immediately stop when the words came out of his mouth and everyone in the room heard it.

The room suddenly falls into silence with both Raven and Damian staring at him wide-eyed. Dick facepalms himself as now the words came out of Bruce's mouth.

"...What do you mean by heart failure?" Damian asks.

Before Bruce can say anything, he gets punched in the face by Jason Todd who just happened to hurry into the hospital room to do exactly that.

"You asshole!" Jason shouts furiously at Bruce while Dick grabs him by the arm and tries to pull him. "Your son is dying and it's all your fault!"

Damian looks at them both in complete shock. "What? What do you mean I'm dying? _What do you mean_!?"

Blood starts coming down Damian's nostrils and suddenly starts convulsing on the hospital bed with the heart rate monitor going critical. Raven screams in terror and grabs hold of Damian's hand, hoping she can use her healing abilities to ease whatever is happening to him. However, just by touching him, she starts suffering through the same convulsions even if not as violent as Damian's. Jason grabs Raven and pulls her away from him, carrying her trembling form out of the room as doctors hurry inside. They practically push Bruce and Dick out.

The heart rate monitor flatlines. Karen Beecher quickly performs cardiopulmonary resuscitation on Damian. When that doesn't work, she uses the defibrillator panels to shock his heart back into motion. She shocks him three times, waiting 10 seconds between shocks. The line in the heart rate monitor is still flat.

Karen sighs in frustration. "Okay, everyone, you might want to step back for this."

Karen puts her hands on Damian's chest and electricity spark out of her hands, sending electrical shocks into his body. It takes three more tries before the heart rate monitor starts beeping again and Damian gasps loudly for air. His heart is back into motion. Karen sighs in relief. "Thank God."

"...Raven," Damian croaks while looking at the doctor tiredly. "Where's Raven?"

* * *

Slade continues to watch through the security cameras, as doctors brought Damian into the hospital, contemplating his next move. Seeing the boy being brought to the hospital brings back memories, ones he rather not recall. He knows that there's no turning back from the next phase of his plan. No chance to regret it.

"Begin the next phase, my dear," he says to a bald woman dressed in a purple suit. She nods silently before leaving.

* * *

 ** _Nanda Parbat..._**

 _Slade sat next Damian's hospital bed, reading a newspaper. Talia and Ra's had not come to visit Damian to see if he was all right. It was frustrating. Slade had to do everything himself, even babysit. Damian was sleeping with a respiratory mask on his face to keep his breathing regular. Seeing Damian collapse like that was the scariest thing he ever saw. He already had a bad experience with kids dying in his hands._

 _"Where's Mother?" Damian was suddenly awake and had taken off his respiratory mask._

 _"Put it back," Slade ordered sternly._

 _"Where's Mother?" he asked again._

 _"She's somewhere in the palace," Slade said. "She'll be back." That was a lie, telling him that she was here before. She wasn't._

 _"And Grandfather?" Damian asked._

 _"Dealing with the League," Slade lied again. He hasn't seen Ra's since the surgery. He could be talking to the League but he could be somewhere sulking instead of being next to his grandson. This was child neglect._

 _"...You were right," Damian said. Slade looked him with a frown. "You were right. I'm not ready. I shouldn't have yelled. I should have listened. I'm sorry."_

 _Slade remained looking at Damian pitifully. He nearly forgot that Damian was only three years old. At his age, Damian didn't know any better. So it wasn't his fault that he ended up like this. Slade blamed himself. He was being too harsh on him. Damian was a child, a child with idealistic thoughts, uncontrollable emotions and insatiable desires. A kid would be kicking and screaming for an ice cream. Damian, on the other hand, kicked and screamed to be better as an assassin. Eventually, it took him here and it was because Ra's and Slade were expecting too much from him. They were pushing him too hard._

 _Slade patted him on the head. "Don't be. This isn't your fault."_

 _It wasn't. It was Ra's al Ghul's fault._

 _"Get some rest," Slade told him as he closed the newspaper and got up from his seat. However, Damian called him back._

 _"Can you stay?" he asked. Slade looked at him in surprise. "I - I don't wish to be alone."_

 _Slade reluctantly nodded and sat back down on his seat, watching Damian fall asleep again._

* * *

From the computer room, Felicity jumps as she hears a loud crashing noise. _Okay, that doesn't sound good_. Luckily Jaime and Garfield aren't here at the moment - she asked them to go to Walmart to get her a new flash-drive and a whiskey (they probably won't come back with a whiskey) while she worked in the computer room. She presses the panic button and the alarms start wailing. The lights immediately turn blood red. She checks on the security cameras and zooms in on the camera in the interrogation where Terra would be. Terra is not there. The room is empty and the door is unlocked. _Oh no_.

In one of the monitors, Felicity immediately catches a glimpse of a boulder coming right behind her and drops to the floor as the boulder crashes through the computers, shattering them to pieces.

Felicity looks up and sees Terra standing at the doorway, cracking her knuckles.

"Missed me?" she asks with a smirk. "I've got a bone to pick with Raven. But since you're here, you get to die first."

"Oh _shit_ ," Felicity mutters.

* * *

 **So guys, what do you think? Was it good? Was it bad? Should I add anything else to it?**

 **Let me know in the comments.**

 **The next chapter will be written soon.**


	17. Chapter 15: Purple Cat

**Sorry for the delay guys. I was taking a break then I started writing my original story and kind of got caught up in the moment and almost forgot I had a fanfiction to write. So, that's my bad. Anyways, enjoy.**

 **Just in case some of you didn't know, they just announced the actress who'll be playing Raven for the new _Teen Titans_ live action show, an Australian actress named Teagan Croft. **

* * *

Damian is out of danger at the moment. Karen Beecher was able to revive him but there's no telling how long it will last until he has another seizure. He's under observation for a while. Karen explains to everyone that Damian Wayne has Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (also known as stress cardiomyopathy), a type of non-ischemic cardiomyopathy in which there is a sudden temporary weakening of the muscular portion of the heart. This can be triggered by emotional stress. Stress cardiomyopathy can cause acute heart failure, lethal ventricular arrhythmias - a group of conditions that make the heartbeat irregular, the heart rate become above 100 beats per minutes and is called a tachycardia, and ventricular rupture. The symptoms of arrhythmias are lightheadedness, shortness of breath, passing put and chest pains. Meaning that it's very dangerous. Karen then explains that the only solution for Damian is heart replacement. He needs a new heart. His old heart is already too damaged to fix.

Raven is still in shock. Trying to heal Damian affected her immensely. She failed. It never happened before. The heart is too damaged for her to fix, just like the doctor said. Jason and Kori stayed by her side until she calmed down. The moment she was taken out of the room, she was shaking terribly and hyperventilating.

Now she's just sitting on the floor, drinking water yet still shaking with her face completely drained. Kori tries to remain her calm, patting her head and making sure she keeps drinking water to maintain her hydrated.

"It's okay," Kori says, "Damian is going to be fine."

Raven doesn't reply, clearly unconvinced. She hugs her legs and puts her chin on her knees. Damian is dying, that's much she knows.

Jason confronts Bruce and Dick about the ordeal. Dick knew that Damian is sick since the beginning and didn't say anything, not even to the Titans or Kori, the girl he trusts most. He lied to everyone. Both he and Bruce. And there's a possibility that Alfred knows as well.

"How could you do that to us?" he snaps at Bruce, "More importantly, how could you do that to him? To your own son. He's sick and you decided not to say anything."

"That was my decision make, not yours!" Bruce snaps, "I didn't want to worry him or the others. I was going to tell him sooner ─."

"Why didn't you?"

"I was trying to find a solution for him!"

"And did you!? Or are you going to keep that a secret too!?"

"Yes I did! But I need to talk to Damian first."

Jason frowns at Bruce. "Why?"

"He's not going to like what I need to tell him."

"Which is?"

"I can't tell you."

Jason grows red in the face and growls. "You see? This is the reason why everyone you care about leaves! Dick, Barbara, Tim, Stephanie and now Damian. The only reason why Alfred never left your sorry ass is because you have no one else left."

Bruce grabs Jason by the shirt collar and slams him against the wall. "You think I wanted this!?" he yells angrily. "You think I wanted this!? I didn't!"

"Let go of me! Let go of me!" Jason yells as he pushes Bruce away, forcing him to let go.

Bruce simply stares at Jason, completely shock of himself. The whole ordeal with Damian is getting to him. It's getting to everyone actually.

"Mark my words, Bruce," Jason gives him a full warning, "If Damian dies, this going to be all on you."

He storms off, abruptly knocking over a pan full of scalpels and scissors before disappearing into the next hallway. Bruce doesn't stop him or bothers to call him back. He just lets Jason go. This is all on Bruce. Jason doesn't have to worry though. Bruce will pay the price soon.

* * *

After calming Raven down, Kori gets up and heads for the vending machine to get them some snacks. Maybe some Snickers or M&M's might make them feel better, like in the TV commercial. Probably won't but it wouldn't hurt to try. Once in front of the vending machine, she takes out a dollar and slide it into the slot before pressing 5B. The Snicker back falls to the bottom. Kori puts in another dollar and presses 4B where the M&M's are and that one falls to the bottom as well.

"Kori."

Dick is now standing behind Kori, his face full of quilt and sadness. She can see his reflection through the glass. But she ignores him.

He puts a hand on her shoulders but she shrugs it off as she leans down to take the bars from the vending machine. Once straightening up, she walks past him without saying a word to him.

"Kori, please, I'm sorry," he apologizes, following her, "I wanted to tell you but I promised Bruce...Please say something."

Kori turns around to face him, tears forming in her green eyes. "Damian is dying, Dick. I don't think this is the best moment to talk."

"When is it going to be the best time then?" he asks, taking her hand in his, "Listen, Kori, the reason why I didn't tell you is because Bruce told me not to. He didn't want you or Damian to worry."

"Is this is why you've been avoiding me?"

When Dick doesn't answer, simply looks down in shame, Kori turns his back to him and walks away from him.

Her phone suddenly rings. After wiping off her tears, she digs out her cellphone and answers the call. "Hello?"

" _Hey, Starfire! Your security system sucks_!" Felicity yells through the phone. There's a lot of crashing noises in the background.

"What's going on back there?" Kori asks worriedly.

" _Terra's out! And she's trying to kill me_!"

* * *

Felicity is now running down the hall after rolling out of the computer room through an escape hatch under the keyboards. Boulders keep coming her way as she tries to escape the geokinetic maniac. She had been lucky she was able to see the boulder through the computer screen or her head would have popped like a water balloon.

" _Are you still in the Tower_?" Kori asks.

"Yes! So get your asses over here and help me!"

" _We're on our way_."

Felicity heads her way to the elevator, only to see it already in use and is about to stop to this floor. Garfield and Jaime.

"Shit," she mutters before elbowing the elevator's control panel as hard as she could (not caring if it breaks the bone in her arm), shattering it and making the elevator stop midway. That should take care of them. "Sorry, boys. I can't have you die on me."

She makes a run for it to the common room. She has nowhere to run. Probably jump out the window. But then the rocks below could kill her. What now?

"You know, it was a very stupid move keeping Garfield and Jaime out of the fight," Terra says as she arrives riding on a boulder, a piece of the Tower. "I would have enjoyed killing them along with you. "

"You're fight is with me, not them," Felicity hisses.

"My fight is with everyone," Terra says, "I'm just picking you off one by one. And since you're here, you'll get to be the first to die."

"Well, I'm hard to kill so...bring it, bitch."

Without warning, Terra brings it...in the form of a catapult that cracks under Felicity's feet and flings her to a wall. Felicity cries out in pain as she makes impact with the wall and crashes to ground, pain exploding in her left side. She even felt her ribs crack.

"Once I'm done with you, Raven is the next one on my list."

Raven. No. Felicity struggles to get up from the floor, her body shaking from the pain she's feeling right now. She feels hot blood trickling down her temple and her side throbbing.

She glares at Terra viciously. "So glad Dinah wasn't the only one affected by the particle accelerator," she growls, her blue-green eyes suddenly turning black.

"What the hell?"

Felicity screams. The vibration of the scream causes Terra to fly back. The geomorph crashes into another wall just like Felicity did, moaning in agony. Felicity screams at her again. Terra covers her ears and cries out in pain as the vibration of the screams boroughs through her skull.

"I can continue this all day," Felicity hisses, "Or until your brain turns to mush...You're not touching Raven."

Felicity screams again. Tara continues covering her ears though slowly removes one of her hands from her ear and lifts it up. A block of rock bursts out of the wall and strikes Felicity like a punch in the face, knocking her back.

Felicity is now lying n the floor on her side, moaning in agony while Terra struggles to get up from the floor, groaning and shaking her head to get the white noise out of her ears and brain. When the white noise is finally gone, she smirks down evilly at Felicity.

"So I'm guessing that makes you a Black Canary wannabe, huh?" Terra says teasingly, "It's bad enough villains have to deal with two of you bitches." She gives her a good kick in the ribs making them crack and causing Felicity to cry out. "Is that the reason why you left Star City? Does Green Arrow know about this?"

Despite the pain she's in, Felicity still manages to smirk deviously at Terra. She then grins, showing her teeth stained with her own blood. "Am I that easy to read?"

Terra glares before thrusting her hand forward, surrounded by a golden glow.

The ground starts to wrap around Felicity's body and she bellows out as the concrete is trying to bury her alive and crushing her.

"There can only be one blonde bitch in the Tower, Miss Smoak."

"Terra, stop!"

Garfield and Jaime are now standing in the common room, armed and ready to fight her. Terra simply rolls her eyes at the two boys.

"You seem to forget that the reason Miss Smoak locked you two in the elevator is to keep you away from me," she says, her eyes turning gold.

"Terra, why are you doing this?" Garfield asks.

"You know that is the most cliché question you can ever ask," she says, "You know, it's only been a day and I already found you to be irritating. I always hated you. You and all the rest. Do you want to know what my problem is? You people have gifts and decide to save the ones that tried to crush you and get treated like freaking celebrities while others like us get crushed by the very people you save. We try to wipe out our enemies while you save them and make us look like the bad guys."

"Guys, just kick her ass! She's crazier than I am!" Felicity yells.

"Terra, stand down," Jaime warns her, "You don't have to kill anyone." He suddenly looks over his shoulder and yells at the beetle on his back. "I know she's not mentally stable. Will you let me do my job!?"

"Who the hell is Mr. Schitzo talking to? You know what...?" She lifts up her hands and the ground shoots both Garfield and Jaime to the ceiling, trapping them both in earth, minus their heads. "Screw this shit."

"Terra, no!"

Terra turns her head to the left and sees Nightwing, Starfire and Cyborg. Nightwing with his Eskrima batons. Cyborg with his sonic blaster ready to fire. And Starfire with her hands surrounded by green glow and her eyes glaring bright with anger.

Terra smirks. "Looks like that's my cue."

A boulder breaks out of the wall and crashes through the windows. Terra runs towards the broken window and jumps through the large hole. She lands on the boulder that is still floating down below and flies away with it.

"She's getting away!" Felicity yells but hisses in pain. The ground still has her trapped like a burrito.

"Cyborg, get the others free! Starfire, we're going after Terra!" Nightwing says.

Kori flies out of the window and Dick uses a glider to follow behind her.

Victor stays at the Tower to free the others. He frees Garfield and Jaime first, blasting his sonic gun to break through the rocks. Garfield shapeshifts into a flying squirrel to avoid crash-landing to the ground. Once he and Jaime land on the ground, Garfield morphs back into his human form.

Victor then heads over to free Felicity while Garfield and Jaime go after Terra as well.

She laughs. "My hero. I'd kiss you if I wasn't restrained."

"Maybe I'll take you out for dinner once we get Terra."

"I'll have to check my schedule then."

Victor blasts at the floor, careful not to hit her.

"Oh, thank God," she gasps a lung full of air as she sits up from the ground. She smiles at him and puts a hand on his shoulder, "I love you so much right now."

Victor pats her on the back. "We're not there yet."

Felicity pushes herself back on her feet. She stumbles forward, almost falling, but manages to straighten herself. "I will kill that bitch," she growls angrily. But before she can even take a step, she falls to the ground.

"Hey, hey, hey! You okay!?"

"Shit, remember when I said the bullet only effects metahumans?" she croaks, still smiling at him. She lifts her sweater, showing black rooty veins spreading across her stomach and chest. "Ta-da!"

"Aw crap!"

* * *

The Titans (Starfire, Nightwing, Blue Beetle and Beast Boy) chase after Terra who's flying on a boulder. They chase her all over San Francisco. Terra goes as fast as she can. Despite Kori and Jaime being faster fliers than her, every time they manage to reach her she uses her powers to throw a boulder or a piece of concrete at them. She managed to hit Dick with a piece of shale. If it weren't for Garfield flying down to help catch him, he would have splattered onto the streets.

They end up chasing her to the other side of the city. To their surprise, she finally stops running. She lands her boulder on the roof of a tall building and hops off it. The gang follow, landing on the roof as well and ready to fight her. Terra smirks at them in a taunting way.

"Terra, stop! There's nowhere else for you to run!" Nightwing shouts at her. "It's over!"

She simply snickers in amusement. "Is it, really? Because to me, this is just the beginning of our little game."

"You think hurting people and trying to kill them is a game to you?" Jaime says.

"You people don't know what kind of game we're playing, do you?" she says, "Think of this as a game of chess. You idiots are the pawns. Batman is the knight. Raven and Damian are the king and queen. In order to reach for the king, we have to get rid of his queen."

"Are you saying this is all about Damian?" Garfield asks.

Terra smirks at the question. "This has always been about Damian, Garfield Logan."

"Why? Why are you after him?" Starfire asks.

"Not me," Terra smirks as she backs up to the edge of the roof. "The dead." The four heroes stare at her in confusion which makes Terra chuckle in amusement. "The dead have come out of their graves and now they're hunting down Damian for his sins. And they'll take anyone else down just to get to him." Starfire and Nightwing try to approach her but they stop as soon as they see her left foot step out from the edge of the roof. Is she seriously going to jump off the roof? "You should get ready. It won't be long now. The dead are coming."

Terra extends her arms to the side and leans back, falling off the roof before the four heroes can reach her. The moment they look down, she's already gone. No signs of Terra anywhere. No body on the pavement. It's like she simply vanished in thin air.

* * *

"You feeling better, Rae?" Jason asks after she finally calmed down.

She shakes her heads. "No, I'm not okay. I have to get back in there."

"Damian is under observation," he tells her, "The doctors are not going to let us in until they say so or at least until Bruce says so. An I doubt Bruce will want you near him."

"I don't care. Come on, Jason, please," she pleads urgently.

Jason sighs and rolls his eyes. "Do you have any idea how hard it's going to be to distract the doctors and Batman?"

Raven scoffs at the ridiculous question. "You were able to control the entire Gotham City drug trade, hijack and destroy a helicopter full of guns and beat the crap out of the Joker. I'm sure you can think of something."

Jason sighs. "I'll just have to improvise."

He gets up from the chair, taking out a dollar bill. He walks over to the vending machine. He suddenly collapses to the ground convulsing, much to Raven's surprise. She squeals in fright.

"Somebody help him!" she shouts.

Doctors and nurses run to help Jason. There's just one thing. Jason is faking it and Raven knows it. He dropped to the floor on purpose and is pretending to have a seizure as a distraction for both doctors and nurses. It's working so far. Raven even sees Karen Beecher leave Damian's room to check on Jason.

Raven takes this opportunity to phase through the floor like a ghost, in order to get past the doctors without being noticed.

She makes it to Damian's hospital room. She looks down at him. He's still unconscious from the anesthesia the doctors gave him so he can sleep with ease through the rest of the day. However, knowing how stubborn Damian is, he'll probably wake up in less than an hour or two. He's strong. Always has. Always will be. She's not going to let him die, she can promise him that.

* * *

Felicity opens her eyes and sees Victor Stone injecting something into her shoulder where she was first shot by the attackers at the beach. She lied to Victor about not being a metahuman and that lie nearly killed her. She's glad to see someone who still cares about her, despite her behavior. Felicity hasn't met many nice people since Green Arrow and that was years ago. The only person she's been able to like and trust is Raven and now Victor. However, she doesn't know how he'll treat her this time now that he knows she's been lying to him.

"Were you able to catch Terra?" she asks. Whatever substance he injected into her body, it's actually helping me cool down the painful burning sensation in her body.

"She's gone," he says. Nightwing informed him earlier that Terra simply vanished into thin air. They're still searching the city for any signs of her and reported to the police to keep their eyes open just in case she's still in San Francisco. Nightwing also informed Batman about the issue. They'll have the hospital guarded at all times until they find her.

 _Shit_ , Felicity thinks as she lies back on the medical bed and groans and frustration. First Terra escaped, then tried to kill Felicity and now is gone. Worst day ever. Worse than any hangover she's ever had. And she's had a lot of bad hangovers.

"How am I doing?" she asks.

"How are _you_ doing?"

"I feel like I've been crushed by an avalanche." With Terra, it's become possible.

"Well, thanks to Terra, you have five cracked ribs and a fractured arm. Not to mention that poison in your system. I've managed to repair most of the damages done to your ribs and arm. But I'm more concerned with the poison. I injected you with something to keep it from spreading even further but you have to be injected every few hours or it will keep spreading. At least until we find an antidote."

The one who manufactured the poison would mostly like have it, Felicity thinks. She sighs. "You're probably going to ask why I lied to you guys."

"Why didn't you tell us you were a metahuman in the first place?" he asks.

"Well, it's not exactly a comfortable thing I like talking about," she says, "At the moment, I thought people would treat me differently."

"Felicity, I'm half-metal, Beast Boy is green, Blue Beetle has an alien cockroach on his back, Raven is half-demon and Starfire is from space. You fit in just fine," he says, smiling at me. She smiles back. "Is that why you left the city?"

"Part of it, yes," she says, "However, it's not the main reason why I left Star City."

"Which is?"

"...I rather not talk about it," she says.

"Girl, we already know that you're a meta. What other secrets are you hiding?"

"I think we should worry more about Terra than little old me." Felicity is not exactly old...at all. She's 26 years old. "We need to know how the heck she got out of the inhibitor collar."

"She could have easily broken the bracelets with those geokinetic powers of hers."

"Yes and the metal collar is compressed earth but that's not the point. That collar is specifically made to suppress metahuman abilities. They all work with Bane and Killer Frost no matter what. Those things are programed to cancel out any type of ability, including Superman. Unless..."

"Unless what?"

"...Unless someone hacked into the program and deactivated the collar." Someone as good as her.

"Impossible. If that's true, why would they want to free Terra?"

"What if it wasn't meant to free Terra?" she says, finally realizing this detail, "What if this all meant to distract us? To lure you, Nightwing and Starfire all the way here."

"For what?"

A look of horror suddenly appears on her face, her widening. "...Call Batman again. Right now!"

* * *

Raven watches him wake up after a few hours of being asleep under anesthesia. He's exhausted. She can tell by his squinted eyes and heavy eyelids. She smiles and holds his hand. Damian looks at his hand in hers and smiles back.

"Ouch," he croaks.

Raven thinks of punching him at that point for scaring the living shit out of her. All she can do is laugh and wipe out her tears. Idiot scaring the hell out of me.

"Has Father been here?" Damian asks. And her smile suddenly fades. She knew he would ask that question eventually. She nods. "I rather not see him right now."

"He's your father." Despite the secrets Batman kept from everyone, he is still the father of Damian Wayne. She'd hate to see lose his relationship with his father. He is not the easiest person to work with.

"He lied to me," he says bitterly.

"I know. But you could at least hear him out with what he has to say. Maybe he knows how to fix this."

He simply shrugs. "Maybe."

"You're not going to die, Damian. I'm not going to let it happen.' She doesn't know that though.

"I know."

"Maybe when this is all over and you're healed, maybe we can do something together. Just you and me. We can go to the fair. Or maybe watch a movie and dump M&M's into popcorn. Take long walks at the beach afterwards."

He smiles softly. "I'd like that very much."

Raven slowly leans down to kiss him, only to be interrupted by one of the nurses entering the room. She quickly straightens up and brushes her hair back awkwardly. Damian slowly sits up from his hospital bed, groaning in pain.

"I could really use a bit of water," he says.

Raven nods and calls out to the nurse. "Excuse me, Miss. You think you can bring us a glass of water?"

However, the nurse doesn't seem to be paying attention. She seems to busy taking the scalpels from the silver tray and put it in her white coat's pocket.

Damian frowns at the nurse, taking in her appearance. She has no hair on her headand she's brown-skinned. He has seen her before but can't remember where exactly. He then sees a purple streak tattooed on the back of her hand as it digs into the pocket of blue pants. Memories of his mother flash into his mind. The day his father was kidnapped by his mother and a few of her associates: Noah Cuttler/the Calculator, Jervis Tetch/Mad Hatter, Ted Carson/Firefly, Drury Walker/Killer Moth, Tusk, Lester Buchinsky/Electrocutioner, Heretic and finally...

"ONYX!"

The supposed nurse takes out a gun from her pants and aims it at Damian. Raven gasps and jumps in front of him. The bullet hits a shield Raven quickly put up to protect him. The fake nurse known as Onyx continues shooting at the two until Raven is able to grab Damian by the hospital gown and they both disappear through the bed.

They're now hidden in a supply room full of medical equipment.

"We need to tell your father," Raven whispers to Damian as she puts his arm around her shoulder and helps him up. He still can't walk on his own so she has to help him walk. She then sees the crook of his arm bleeding. She forgot that Damian was still attached to the saline back there. It must have ripped off when they teleported out of there "Oh my God, Damian. I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it," he hisses, "We need to get to Father before she finds us."

"Do you know her?" she asks.

"She worked for Heretic once," he explains as he presses a hand against his arm to hold the bleeding, "They both were allied with my mother. She kidnapped my father and brainwashed him. She wanted to do the same with me."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"It doesn't matter anymore, does it? My mother is dead. Heretic is dead. Onyx is supposed to be dead. Yet she's here now and trying to kill us both."

Raven reaches for the top shelf of the rack where there's a box of gauzes. She can use them to stop the bleeding for a moment. She hurriedly rips open the package and unravels the roll of gauze before wrapping it around Damian's bleeding arm. So far it's working. It's holding. The bleeding is ceasing. Raven ties the ends into a knot. It should hold until the two find Batman and warn him about the fake nurse who tried to kill them.

"These people are in danger," Damian says, "She could be could be killing people while looking for us."

"There has to be a fire alarm then," Raven says, an idea that simply occurred to her in seconds. A fire alarm will turn on the water sprinkles on the ceiling and this will make everyone panic and cause them to evacuate the hospital. It could bring them into a lot of trouble but it can also save everyone's lives.

She and Damian quickly hide under one of the stretchers as soon as they hear the door open. They didn't think Onyx can find them here since the hospital is big but they can never be too careful. They put their hands over their mouths to keep themselves from making noises as they see feet walk past them. Woman's feet. A nurse. Luckily, it's not Onyx. It's just another hospital nurse, with brown hair.

Raven and Damian were about to come out of hiding to warn the nurse when the door suddenly opens again and Onyx enters the supply room.

The nurse turns her head and smiles at her. "Oh hi. I'm looking for bandages. You think you can help me out. These people always get the packages mixed up when in a hurry but I'm guessing that's what we do when we're in a hurry."

Onyx doesn't say anything. She simply walks over to the nurse and reaches for the high shelf. Raven prays that Onyx doesn't kill the nurse in cold blood. Onyx gives the package to the nurse. She then turns to walk away.

Raven and Damian sigh of relief.

"Hey, what are you two doing under there?" the nurse suddenly sees them hiding under the stretcher. Their eyes widen.

Onyx hears this and turn around to see the two quickly come out of the stretcher. Before Raven and Damian can warn the nurse, Onyx shoots her in the head and begins marching towards the two kids. Damian thinks fast and pushes the rack, causing it to crash down and spill all the hospital equipment to the floor and on top of the dead woman. It blocks the gap between them and Onyx, keeping her from reaching them. This doesn't stop her from reaching for her gun, however. Raven and Damian make a run for it before she could take out a gun and shoot at them.

They run into the halls and continue running. Some patients are staring at them a doctor yells at them to stop but they ignore the doctor.

When they make a turn to the next hallway, Raven finally spots a fire alarm on the wall. She stops and pulls down the handle, turning on the fire alarm. The ringing can be heard throughout the entire hospital and the people start to move, with doctors, nurses and patients who weren't incapacitated running. They probably think it's a fire. That's when the sprinkles suddenly turn on.

* * *

Jason got into a lot of trouble after faking a seizure. Both Bruce and Karen Beecher are pissed off about it. She tells Jason that a doctor's job is serious business and could have him arrested for faking a seizure and disturbing the doctors from their work.

That's when a ringing sound starts blaring through the hospital and the sprinkles on the ceiling turn on, making it rain. Karen uses her clipboard to cover her head from the water coming out of the sprinklers.

"Who turned on the fire alarm?" Karen asks.

"Probably some hooligan," Jason says.

"Or trouble," Bruce says, "I need to check on Damian."

* * *

Raven and Damian end up hiding in one of the bathroom stalls in the women's restroom. Raven sees the blood in Damian's going through the gauzes and dripping on the white tiled floor. He's starting to lose blood again. At this rate, they will never get to Batman in time.

"Stay here," she says. Before she can get up, Damian grabs her by the arm.

"Are you crazy? She'll kill you," he says.

He's right about that. Onyx could kill her. She probably has those bullets that disables metahumans like Raven. But it's the only way. Onyx is here for Damian and Raven needs to distract her, lure her away from her.

"Better me than you," she says and disappears through the floor before Damian can have the chance to protest.

She reappears in the hallway where people are still running and screaming upon hearing the shooting. Onyx is just a few feet ahead of her. The woman is checking the rooms for any signs of Raven and Damian. She can end up killing everyone looking for Damian.

"Stop!" Raven yells.

Onyx abruptly turns around to glare at Raven. Raven's heart drops to her stomach due to that cold stare she's getting from the assassin. Onyx aims her gun at her and Raven puts her hands up in surrender.

"Don't hurt these people," Raven begs, her eyes filling up with tears. "They did nothing to you. I know what you're after. I know you're here for him. But please, understand, he's hurt. He's sick. He needs surgery. Please don't hurt him."

"...I'm not here for him," Onyx says before pulling the trigger. The bullet hits Raven straight in the stomach.

Raven falls back to the floor due to the impact of the bullet. Aside from the pain forming on the back of her head, her stomach hurts as well. It's like being set on fire. Raven struggles to breathe, gasping for air but ending up choking instead.

"Don't die yet," Onyx says, "My boss needs you alive."

Damian comes out of hiding after hearing the gunshot. He quickly runs into the hallway. He sees people running away and screaming but he doesn't see Raven. However, when he looks down, he finds himself standing in a puddle of blood.

He then catches sight of Raven being carried over Onyx's shoulder like a sack. He runs after them, leaving a track of bloody footprints behind him.

"No!" he yells as he continues to chase them.

The last thing that he sees of Raven is Onyx running into one of the rooms and jumping out an open window.

Damian quickly runs towards the window but they're already gone. No signs of Raven or Onyx anywhere. She took her. She took Raven.

"Damian!"

Damian quickly turns around to find his father, Jason and Dr. Karen Beecher standing in the room completely shocked at the chaos happening in the hallways. Tears form in Damian's eyes. Raven is taken. Where were they?

"Damian, what happened?" Bruce asks.

"Onyx," he snaps at him viciously, "She took Raven."

Bruce immediately turns to Jason and tells him to have the entire hospital searched. Damian knows that it doesn't matter anymore. They're probably gone by now. There's no telling where Onyx took her.

"Are you sure it was Onyx?" he asks Damian. Bruce remembers Onyx being one of the people that worked for Heretic and Talia but they all died, including Onyx herself. How is she still even alive?

In response, Damian punches his father in the stomach and yells at him angrily. "Where were you!?" He continues punching him until Bruce stops him by grabbing his wrists. "She took Raven and you weren't there!" He struggles against his father's hold, only to pass out at the end.

* * *

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. I had a bit of difficulty getting back into writing because I had a lot of different ideas in my head, and the fact that I've been on vacation. So I feel this chapter seems a bit rushed. I don't know. You guys can tell me.**


	18. I'm Alive

For those who do not know this but my island got struck by Hurricane Maria so that's why I never got the opportunity to post a new chapter for none of my fanfictions. It's been a rocky road for me. My town is still getting the lampposts and cables repaired so there's still no electricity in my house. So far, I'm using the Wifi in Walmart but I won't be posting for the moment until the power in my house comes back. Also, I've been having a complicated time with my parents getting divorced and shit so yeah, another reason why. I will return to the fanfictions soon. I promise. I just need to wait for the power in my house to come back and hope things will return to normal. Anyways, thank you followers for your love and support on my stories. I really appreciate and don't worry, I'll be back with more awesome chapters. Until then enjoy the previous chapters and other fanfictions written by other movie and TV fans.


	19. Good News!

Good news guys. The electricity in my house is back. Internet is still being a bitch but I am still getting back into the whole fanfiction thing! I really hope to write for you all again very soon.


	20. Chapter 16: The Return

**So I'm back after so many months. It's been a rocky road since I didn't have Wi-Fi to keep updated the stories but now that I'm back, I'm taking my time in writing the new chapters as well as trying to updated my other fanfiction. For Black Butler fans, I'm making my first Black Butler fanfiction. If you guys want to check it, feel free. I will also be updating _The Devil's Daughter_ and _Cardinal_ which have also been neglected. **

**Sorry if the chapter is a mess and sorry if it's too short for you guys. Remember, I'm just getting back in the game. Let me know what you guys think in the comments.**

* * *

Raven opens her eyes and finds herself in a room made of stone walls with a large window looking outside to what looks like snow and a door that's pretty sure locked up tight. She can tell by the darkness in the sky that it's nighttime. She slowly sits up and hisses at the pain in her midsection where that bald woman shot her. After looking around, she realizes she's been lying on a wooden bench attached to one of the stone walls. _Where am I?_

She gets up from the bench and limps towards the window. She can only see mountains and snow but nothing else beyond. _I guess I'm not in the U.S. anymore_. She could be in the Himalayas. It snows almost all the time there. Or could be in any other snowy mountain. But why would that Onyx woman bring her here? And why Raven? She thought Onyx would be after Damian but she was actually after Raven. Better her than Damian, especially in the condition that he's in but still, why her? Why do they need her for?

 _I have to get home_. Raven tries thinking of home. The Titans Tower. She lifts up her hand and tries summoning her powers to open the portal to return home. Her eyes widen when nothing happens. She looks down at her empty hand. That's when she notices a metal bracelet around her wrist with a small lightbulb glowing red. She struggles to rip it off her wrist but it refuses to budge. It's stuck to her skin like glue.

She jumps and turns around when she hears the door open. She nearly gasps when Slade Wilson enter the room, completely armoured and carrying a bag in his hand.

"Deathstroke?"

"Hm. I'm surprised you still remember me," he says, "You were quite young when we first met. How old were you? 10? 9?"

Raven feels insulted by the question. She wasn't that young when she and the Titans met Deathstroke. "I was 12."

Slade shrugs his shoulders. "It was probably the lack of having two eyes that made me think you were younger."

"You need another eye." That's stating the obvious. She remembers seeing it in Damian's mind. How he stabbed Deathstroke in the eye and was prepared to stab him in the heart. There was so much anger in Damian back then.

Slade simply chuckles in amusement before putting the bag on the bench where she had been sleeping earlier. "You must be hungry. I brought you something to eat."

"I didn't think I'd be fed around here."

"I'm not gonna starve you, if that's what you think. I find it rather insulting that you find me that much of a monster," he says.

Raven frowns. _He's joking, right?_ Has he looked in a mirror lately? Has he read himself in the newspapers lately? He killed one of the members of the Justice League, the Atom, as well as Moira Queen and other innocent lives, not to mention the people he was paid to kill. Yes, the people he killed where mostly murderers, drug cartels and dealers and other despicable assholes but they were still people. And some of them had families, wives and children who had no idea why the husband/father was murdered by the most dangerous assassin in the world. If he finds it insulted being called a monster, he should hear the other names people call him.

"Eat," he says more sternly.

Raven shakes her head. She doesn't trust him at all. If he's the one responsible for her kidnapping and Damian's injury, she needs to be cautious about it.

"You've been unconscious for more than twelve hours," he tells her. Her eyes widen again. She didn't know she was unconscious for that long. "You'll eat eventually."

Raven shakes her head again. She might be able to eat whatever is in the bag when he leaves, unless the food is poisoned of drugged. But judging by the way he's sitting on the bench while staring at her, she assumes he's not leaving the room until she eats.

She carefully walks over to the bench and snatches the bag, quickly taking a step back just in case Slade tries to grab her. She opens the paper bag and sees what looks like fried pastries. They look familiar. She ate these once at an Nepalese restaurant with the other Titans. It's Samosa, a fried or baked dish made with maida wheat flour and filled with potatoes, peas, chili peppers, spices and paneer. She orders them every time she and the others go to eat at the restaurant. It doesn't surprise her that Deathstroke knows what she eats or where she and the other Titans go. He knows almost everything about the Titans.

Raven takes out one of the fried pastries and bites into it. It's still warm. She continues to eat without looking at the man who just sent a psychopath to kidnap her. Could she have been the one who shot Damian?

"I'm guessing you have a lot of questions," he says as he notices her long silence.

"Did Onyx shoot Damian?" she asks.

Slade shakes his head. "No. It was a partner of mine."

"Who's your partner? Terra?" she asks with her mouth full. "No offence but Terra sucks at her job. You ought to consider getting another partner."

"Doesn't sound like a bad idea," he says, "She's very ill-tempered after all. Fortunately, she's not my partner."

Raven stares at Slade in surprise. She didn't expect for him to admit that Terra works for him. He once said he wasn't a lie so he didn't have a reason to deny it.

Raven nods and stops eating. "You were dead. Everyone thought you were dead."

"Well, you can see that I'm still alive," he says.

Yes, Raven can definitely see it. The might and deadly Deathstroke has returned from the dead.

"Why am I here?" she asks. "Why did you bring me here?"

Slade chuckles in amusement as if knowing that she would ask that question sooner or later. "Out of all the Titans, you're the smartest one."

"You're the one who's after Damian." Raven remembers seeing him in Damian's memory. It was not a pretty memory. There was fire. His grandfather screaming while being burned to a crisp. Slade trying to stab him to death but then losing his eye to Damian. "You killed his grandfather and you tried to kill him because he was going to be the next Ra's al Ghul. You betrayed him and his family."

"They turned on me by choosing him," he grumbles. It seems that talking about the subject irritates him.

"I've been in his head," she says. She has seen many horrors in that head of his but he also saw good. Damian just needed guidance. "He doesn't want to be Ra's al Ghul anymore. He's one of the Titans now. He's family now."

"Family? Tell me, child, where is your family now?" he asks.

Clearly he's testing her. She won't give in. "Don't you dare try to make me lose faith in them. I know they'll come for me. But Damian is not coming. He's hurt because of you. So your genius plan of using me as bait to bring Damian in failed big time, you dumbass."

"I can tell you've been hanging around Felicity Smoak a little too much," he says. Raven frowns. How does he know about Felicity? "Anyway, he will come for you. If he knows that you're in danger, he'll come for you. I'll make sure of that. And when does come for you, I will be a great honour of killing him."

He stands up and walks towards Raven. She gasps, dropping the bag, and tries to flee, only to have her arm captured in Slade's grasp. "And I will make you watch," he whispered in her ear before grabbing her hand and twisted it, eliciting a cry from her.

* * *

The Titans watch Batman walk into their headquarters with a grim look on his face. Jason was left at the hospital to keep an eye on Damian just in case Onyx returns for a second attack or just in case Damian tries to sneak out of the hospital in his delicate condition. Who can blame him though? He's worried about Raven, just like everyone else. The moment Batman reported about Raven's kidnapping, everyone went to work as if the world was ending. As for Felicity, she's pissed off. Victor could see how her fists are clenching and the temperature in her body rising.

"Anything on Terra and Onyx?" Batman asks.

"No. Not yet," Cyborg says. "I was able to put a tracker on Terra before she left the Tower but I lost the signal the moment she reached the Pacific Ocean."

"The moment she reaches land, try to reactivate the tracker," Batman says. It's common for trackers to shut down in the middle of the ocean as they're altered by magnetic fields and lack of range. "Nightwing, I need you to find out everything about Terra and Onyx. We know that Onyx used to work for Talia and Heretic. We thought she died but looks like we were wrong. As for Terra, we all know that she's a mystery."

"She's European," Starfire says. "Markovia. That's all we know."

"Keep searching," Batman says, "I want to know who she really is. Who her parents are. Where her powers came from. And who is she working for."

"What about Raven?" Jaime asks worriedly.

"Those two have a connection," he assumes, "They're both against her and Robin. So I'm guessing they're working for the same person."

"But this doesn't make any sense," Nightwing says, "Who would be after Damian? I know that he has a lot of enemies but... Raven, why take her?"

"Because Damian is in love with her," Batman says. "I'm guessing none of you noticed it. Or perhaps you did notice but never bothered to tell me." His eyes narrow at both Dick and Kori. Garfield Jaime look the other way. They also knew about Damian's relationship with Raven. And Batman assumes that Victor knows as well. Who else knows? Alfred? Jason? Tim? Stephanie? "It doesn't matter anymore. Someone is after Robin and they plan to use Raven as bait. They know he'll do anything to get her back. Unfortunately, Robin is in critical condition. Anything he does will cause his heart to go critical again. He needs to remain here while the rest of us try to locate Terra and Onyx. We find them, we find Raven. That's our top priority."

He turns to head back to elevator. He'll try to search criminal files, both from GCPD and Arkham Asylum, to check if all criminals are accounted for. Anyone who escaped and had a grudge against the Bat and the Boy Wonder.

"Batman?"

Bruce turns around. "What -?"

He gets punched in the face Felicity Smoak.

"You're a moron, that's what you are! What kind of damn vigilante lets some assassin kidnap a fourteen-year-old child!?" she shouts angrily. She almost knees Batman in the face if Cyborg hadn't grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back. "Get off me!"

"I never thought I'd live to see the day when Batman get punched in the face by a hacker and that doesn't happen very often," Beast Boy says.

"You're not helping, Gar," Jaime says.

"I said _let go_!" Felicity finally breaks free, pushing Victor back roughly, and storms over to Batman. "If something happens to Raven, I'll kill you. Do you hear me? I will _kill_ you." She then storms away towards the elevator with Victor following behind her.

Batman wipes off the blood from his nose. For many years, he never saw Felicity Smoak to be the aggressive type. Now he can see she can certainly pack a punch when she wants to. Green Arrow must have trained her well.

"I'm sorry about that, Batman," Dick apologizes, "She's worried about Raven. She can be a bit temperamental."

"I understand," Bruce says, "I received worse punches from Damian."

His communicator rings and immediately picks it up to answer. It's Doctor Karen Beecher. "Karen, what is it?...Is there something wrong with Damian? Did he have another seizure...He _WHAT_!?"

* * *

 _ **20 minutes earlier...**_

Jason wakes up with a startle after hearing a loud thump and clatter. He sits up from his chair and sees Damian on the floor on all fours with saline bag and the holder knocked down.

"Damian."

Damian grabs hold on the edge of the bed and struggles to pull himself up from until he's finally on his feet.

"I got to get out here."

"You need to get back to bed," Jason says, "Bruce says you're not to leave the hospital until he finds out who's been trying to kill you."

"Screw him," Damian snaps at him, "Whoever is after me has Raven. She got taken because of me. It's all my fault. My father wants to find the people who are after me. He's not trying to help find Raven. He doesn't give a shit about her."

"That's not true."

"If she dies, it's going to be my fault. Mine and his," he says, "Please, Jason, you have to help me...Please."

After thinking for a minute, Jason sighs in defeat. He sees no other choice, knowing that Damian would just leave the hospital on his own and he can't have that , now can he?

He waits at least thirty minutes until there's no one in observation before leaving the hospital room in search of a wheelchair. He finds one in the supply closet and whistles while heading back to avoid doctors hearing her wheeling the chair into the room.

"Where are my clothes?" Damian asks as he's placed in the wheelchair. Jason takes off his brown leather jacket and places it over Damian's shoulders.

"Forget about your clothes," he says as he disconnects Damian from the saline bag and bandages his arm to keep it from bleeding like it did early when Onyx came into the hospital, "If Dr. Beecher catches us, we're dead. Bruce will kill me if he finds out I'm helping you sneak out of the hospital. I'll get you some clothes once we get out of here."

"Fine," he grumbles, "Let's just get out of here. We don't have much time."

Jason nods in agreement and pushes the wheelchair out of the room.

"Hey! What are you two doing!?" Jason looks over his shoulder to see Doctor Karen Beecher standing at the end of the hall behind them. _Oh shit!_ With this, Jason makes a run for it, pushing the wheelchair forward as fast as he can like a scooter. "Come back here!" Karen shouts as she chases the two boys down the hallway. "Mr. Todd, you can't take that boy out of the hospital! He's sick! Jason!"

Jason pushes the wheelchair faster. Damian holds on to the handles as Jason continues making sharp turns to the next hall until they finally reach the elevator.

"Jason, you come back here! I'm calling security!"

"He made me do it!" Jason shouts as he enters the elevator with Damian and pushes the button to shut the elevator doors. When Karen is finally near, he takes out his gun and points it at her. Karen stops in her tracks and takes a step back, holding her hands up. "Sorry, doctor. Nothing personal. This was not my idea -."

"I'm calling your father," Karen warns Damian.

"Good. Tell my father he can grab a thermometer and shove it up his ass!" Damian shouts as the elevator closes.

The moment the elevator doors close, Jason and Damian let out a sigh of relief. Once they get out of the hospital, they will get started on searching for Raven. First, Jason needs to steal a car, find clothes for the kid's naked ass and then find a place to hide from Batman and the authorities that might start looking for them.

"Do you think she'll use her powers to stop the elevator?" Jason asks.

Damian shakes his head, saying no. "She can't. She'll be putting my life at risk."

"She's probably calling security right now," he points out, earning a stern look from the young Titan.

"Good thing you know how to take care of that problem."

Jason nods in agreement. _I'm so going to jail_.

* * *

"Felicity" Victor follows her to the training area as she continues marching away from him. She's a faster, he'll give her that. It takes him awhile to catch up to her even with his mechanical legs. When they enter the training are, Felicity turns to slap Victor in the face but he grabs her wrist. "Felicity stop! What's gone in to you?"

"You know what it is," she snaps and Victor steps back with a startle. He can't tell if she's drunk or actually angry. Probably both. He watches her sit down on a bench, places her hand to her face and sighs in frustration. "It's Raven," she says. "That bitch took her and Batman only cares about capturing her and Terra."

She has a point but it still doesn't give her the excuse to punch him in the face. "I get that he's not the caring type," he says, "But he's not going to let her get hurt either. If he's going to save her, he'll be doing it for Damian."

"And that's supposed to make feel better?" she asks.

"Um, I guess not," he says, scratching the back of his head. He sits down on the bench next to her. "Listen, I know you're worried. We all are. But we need to keep it together. Punching Batman may have felt good, hell even I wanted to punch him, but it's not going to help us find Raven."

Felicity sighs and lets out a half-chuckle. "Out of everything I got wrong in my life, she's the only thing I got right. I feel like she's the only family I have left." She looks at Victor, tears prickling. "I can't lose her, Vic."

"And we won't," he assures her, "We're going to find her and we're going to bring her home. Okay?"

Felicity nods in agreement. Before he knew it, she rests her head against his shoulder. He responds by cautiously putting his arm around his shoulder.

* * *

 ** _1_** _ **year ago...**_

 _Meeting the Titans for the first time was irritating, almost irritating as meeting the police. Barbara Gordon/Oracle called to give her a heads up. Felicity had known Barbara Gordon since college. She didn't know she was Oracle and Barbara didn't know she was Pandora until a few years back. She didn't like having superheroes at her door, especially if they just pop out of nowhere to give her a heart-attack like Batman does to everyone._

 _She was inhaling a roll of marijuana. The moment she heard the Titans arrive at her doorstep, she could already hear them complaining about the smell of weed._

 _"Are you sure this is the right place?" Kori asked._

 _"Oracle gave me this address and if it matches the one I sent you then yes, it must be the place," Nightwing said through the communicator._

 _"It smells like marijuana in there," Damian complained while he held his nose. Raven, Beast Boy and Jaime did the same._

 _Felicity pulled the door open. "What do you guys want?"_

 _"Are you Pandora?" Kori asked._

 _"Who wants to know?"_

 _"We're the Titans," Jaime said._

 _"You guys look too young to be Titans. More like Teen Titans," Felicity said with a snarky attitude. "Who's this? Your babysitter?" she said while looking at Kori/Starfire. She didn't like her much at first. A real Mother Hen who would get on your nerves very fast but also looked like she came out a fashion/porn magazine. Garfield Logan/Beast Boy looked like he was dropped in a bucket of green paint by the doctors after his mamma gave birth to him. Jaime Reyes/Blue Beetle...His costume was cool but his scarab wouldn't stop beeping and it irritated her. She even told him to take the thing outside if it wanted to pee, like a dog. Damian Wayne/Robin was the kind of kid you wanted to punch in the face for looking like an angry Chihuahua on steroids. She never saw Nightwing but thought one thing about him. Horny. As for Raven, she looked like a moody emo teenager that joined the vampire book club._

 _"Who the hell do you think you are?" Damian snapped at her. Raven held his arm._

 _"Easy there, Robin," she said._

 _"So is this the hacker Nightwing told us about?" Beast Boy asked, hiding behind Jaime as she had a very straightforward approach._

 _"Felicity Smoak," she never cared much about giving away her secret identity. At first she did, but not anymore. "What do you guys want?"_

 _"We're trying to track down a thief," Kori said._

 _"There are many thieves around the world, Barbie Doll. You need to be more specific," she said. Thieves were easier to catch and felt like they were wasting her time coming to her just to help catch her thief._

 _"His name is Red X," Damian informed her while giving her a file. Felicity set the cigarette in an ashtray and read the file he gave her. She never admitted but this Red X guy was smart._ _He wore a_ completely black bodysuit that features a red 'X' placed over the top of the left pectoral muscle, a grey utility belt and a skull mask with another red X over the left eye. _"Unlike many thieves, he was the only one who had the balls to steal Xenothium Ore from a high-secured tech company so he can power his suit."_

 _"And you have no idea who he is?"_

 _"That's why we're here," Kori said, "We need your help to track this Red X down."_

 _"Red X can be anyone," Raven said, "Someone smart enough to steal the Xenothium Ore but dumb enough to take it for a joyride."_

 _Felicity laughed. "I like this one. She speaks my language. Do you have anything I can use to help track this Red X down?"_

 _"Robin got cut with this," Beast Boy said as he took out a red metal shuriken in the shape of an X. How practical of that guy._

 _Felicity took a closer look at it, her fingers tracing over the sharp blade. "This is Nth metal."_

 _"What's Nth metal?" Raven asked._

 _"An alloy," she said as she sat on her chair in front of a messy desk and drummed her fingers over the keyboards of her laptop fast. "A_ _heavy isotope of iron, Fe676. It's used to make indestructible armour. But it's really flammable. You put it near fire. Boom! It will explode like dynamite. It's not as potent as Promethium but it's still dangerous. This sort of metal is limited and you can only find it in few places. S.T.A.R. Labs and Hall Industries. Carter Hall was the original founder of Nth metal. And according to what I've found, there have been reports of Nth metal being stolen from S.T.A.R. Labs. But Xenothium Ore was stolen in another lab called Cadmus. And we both know that Cadmus has a bad rep." She then looked at Raven. "You want to see something cool?"_

 _Raven simply arched her eyebrow. Felicity simply smirked._

 _She put the shuriken in the oven and flipped the kitchen table to the side where the she and the Titans hid behind it. When the temperature of the oven reached two hundred degrees, it exploded into pieces like Felicity said it would. It also damaged her oven but she didn't care. Most of her meals were microwaved. The shocked look on the Titans faces were priceless, except for Damian who looked like Grumpy Cat. He was not impressed._

 _She noticed Raven laughing in amusement. "Oh my God, you're crazy," she said._

 _Felicity simply laughed in return. "Oh honey, we all go a little crazy sometimes."_

 _At that moment, she knew that Raven was the only person she got along with. The only person who understood. They never captured Red X but they were able to stop him from stealing more Xenothium Ore. But even after that, Raven would show up and they would hang out together. One of the things that surprised her about Raven was that she actually liked 80's music (especially **Bette Davis Eyes** by Kim Carnes), not just mood rock music. And another thing was that Raven was looking for a mother. She didn't need to say. It could already be seen by her actions. Felicity could never be a mother, even if she wanted to. But she could be Raven's friend. _

_However, after awhile, Felicity realized that she needed Raven more than she needed her._

* * *

Raven sighs as she looks up at the ceiling while lying down on the wooden bench that's replacing the bed she had back at Titans Tower. She clenches her teeth as she tries not to scream while placing the bones of her fingers back into place. She never expected Slade to dislocate them. They hurt but at least he didn't try to snap her neck. She grits her teeth as she places the last finger (her pinky) back into place. She's too afraid to curled them because they still hurt. She tries pulling at the inhibitor around her wrist once more. It still won't come off. It's stuck to her skin. Damn it.

She sits up the moment she hears the cell door open. She thought it was Slade again coming here to break more of her bones. However, she frowns when she sees it's not Slade.

Some guy in a Batman-wannabe costume. She knows that it's not Batman. She knows how Batman dresses. The mask this guy is wearing covers his entire face with red-tinted lenses on the eyes. And he wears black sleeveless jacket that makes him look like a biker gangster.

"Hello there, Raven," he says in a deep voice as he steps into the cell and shuts the door behind him. Raven stands up from the bench, never taking her eyes from him. "You're probably wandering who I am. Allow me to introduce myself. I am Heretic."

"An intimidating name. And should I care because...?" She tries very hard not to be intimidated by this man but he is quite tall and physically imposing. He looks like he can snap anyone like a twig. And after what happened with Slade, prefers not to have her fingers broken again. Or worse, her entire arm.

"Well, my partner thought that since you'll be staying here for quite some time, you might as well know all of your captors."

Her eyes narrow when he mentioned the word _partner_. "You were the one that shot Damian."

"I do not deny it. Yes, I did. It was nothing personal against you -."

"But it is personal against him. Both you and Slade want Damian dead and you're using me as bait to get to him," she says, "It's rather unfair to have two grown men fight against a child, especially if you wounded him. Are you afraid that he might take on both of you by himself?"

"Do I look like I'm afraid of him?"

"Huh. Your outfit says give it a shot," she says with her usual snark attitude.

Heretic grabs her by the neck and lifts her off the floor. She kicks and scratches at his wrist as he's nearly choking her.

"You may be the daughter of a demon but without your powers, you are nothing but a stubborn brat who doesn't know how to hold her tongue," he says, "It wouldn't be a fair game to beat you to a pulp while powerless so I suggest you try not to provoke me. Otherwise, you'll end up with more than just a broken hand. Do you understand me?"

Raven stares at him with wide eyes until she finally manages to nod. Heretic lets go of her neck and she drops to the floor with a thud. She rubs her aching neck while glaring up at the Heretic man. Heretic continues to stare down at her.

"I can somewhat see what Damian sees in you," he says as he turns his back on her. Raven has the thought of attacking him while he has his back turned but knows that it wouldn't be convenient. "I never thought he would be one to display emotion, let alone affection towards another person."

She frowns at him in confusion.

"He's weak. He was born with a weak heart yet his grandfather trained him to be a strong assassin. Not just a weak heart but a weak soul," Heretic says, "You say you saw everything in his mind. But you never saw me which is interesting, considering that he and I are the same."

"I...I don't understand."

"Of course you don't. You are just a young girl," he says, "However, I will be more than glad than help you understand."

Heretic removes his Batman-wannabe mask and places it on the table next to him. When he turns around, Raven's eye widen. _His face. And his eyes_. They're the same shade of green. He looks exactly like...

"Damian..." With that, she passes out.

* * *

 **End of Chapter 16**

 **I know it's a little short but I'm just getting back in the game after many months.**


	21. Delay

Hey guys, sorry for the delay. I know you guys expect for a new chapter to pop up very soon. However, due to the fact I'm going to be spending the week in Connecticut, the chapters will be postponed for the moment until my return. The chapter to _Judas Contract is_ currently being written and the chapter to _The Devil's Daughter_ is nearly done. Sorry for the inconvenience.


	22. Sneak Peek

**Here's a sneak peek to the Judas Contract.**

* * *

Jason brings Damian to an abandoned warehouse after stealing and hot-wiring a car.

"Why does it always have to be an abandoned warehouse? Don't villains and thieves think of originality anymore?" Damian asks.

"Do you want to go back to the hospital then?"

"Hell no."

"Then shut up. If you want to find Raven, we need to be in a secluded are where no one can find us." Jason takes out the wheelchair from the backseat and helps Damian out of the car to have him sit on it.

"Can I at least get out of the wheelchair?"

"And risk having you collapse on me? Not a chance." Jason pushes the wheelchair into the warehouse.

It's just like any other warehouse. Empty with boarded up windows and sheets hanging around as well as crates sitting around. It makes Damian wonder if this is what all villains do when they're not out destroying other people's lives. If this is what they do, Damian truly pities them. It surely sounds boring. He assumes Jason simply polishes his guns and doing computer work when he's not out there being a crime lord. And these warehouses have nowhere to sleep. Do villains sleep on the crates? Do they sleep at all?

Speaking of computer work..."Do you have your computer with you?" he asks.

"It's in the passenger's seat. Why?"

"Just bring it in. I need to do something important."

Jason rolls his eyes and sighs. He leaves Damian alone to get the computer. Damian simply sits there waiting, his hands grasping the wheelchair's handles. He takes a deep breath as the dull pain in his chest return. He can't let himself get sick again. He needs to save Raven. If Onyx is alive, could it mean that Heretic could also be alive?

Jason returns with a red Apple laptop in his hands. He gives it to Damian.

Damian puts the laptop on his lap and opens it.

"What are you doing?"

"Hacking into the Titans' mainframe," Damian explains, "Whoever kidnapped Raven is soon to contact the Titans. Whether it's for ransom or for an evil scheme, I need to hack into the tower's computer and find out."

"Won't they track your signal?"

"I'll misdirect the signal. The Titans are smart but not that smart."

Jason sighs. "I'm so going back to prison for this. Your father is going to kill me for taking you out of the hospital like this."

Damian rolls his eyes and continues typing vigorously on the laptop's keyboards. "Fuck Batman."


End file.
